The first state court appearance by rapper Ricky Hampton related to last year's Little Rock club shooting, where 25 people were shot while he was performing, was pushed back Tuesday to Jan. 22 after authorities failed to take him to court.
Hampton, 26, is charged with possession of a firearm by certain persons, accused of carrying a gun during the July 2017 gang shootout at the now-closed Power Ultra Lounge at Sixth and Center streets. The Class B felony carries a potential 20-year prison sentence.
He was scheduled for arraignment Tuesday before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza, but his lawyer, Eugene Clifford, said Hampton had not been taken to court from the Tennessee prison where he's serving a five-year federal sentence, imposed earlier this month, for gun possession at another Arkansas club.
Clifford told the judge that prosecutors had submitted all the required paperwork to federal authorities to secure Hampton's attendance and that he didn't know why they had not taken the rapper to court.
The Jan. 22 date was set to coincide with the next court appearance of Hampton's former bodyguard, who's accused of firing a gun during the shootout.
Kentrell Dominique "Dirt" Gwynn, also of Memphis, is charged with 10 counts of aggravated assault, each charge carrying a potential six-year sentence. Gwynn, 26, has told investigators that Hampton emptied his gun into the floor of the Power Ultra club.
Hampton, under the stage name Finese2Tymes, was the featured performer, and authorities say witnesses saw Hampton in the club with a gun. A video shows him grabbing the butt of a pistol under his shirt, authorities said.
Jan. 22 is also the date that Hampton is scheduled to stand trial in St. Francis County Circuit Court on charges of first-degree battery, aggravated assault and terroristic-threatening. He's accused of shooting a woman, Quaydria Thomas, in Forrest City outside Club Envy five days before the Power Ultra shootings.
Gwynn pleaded guilty in September in federal court to giving Hampton the gun that authorities say the rapper used in that shooting. Gwynn is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 9.
Metro on 12/19/2018