Isaiah Lee, the Los Angeles man who allegedly charged at Dave Chappelle on stage, appeared in court Friday — where his lawyers demanded prosecutors turn over additional evidence in his battery case.
Lee who appeared on Friday at a Downtown Los Angeles court with a metal chain around his waist and wrist, remained silent as Deputy Public Defender Chelsea Padilla told Judge Armenui Ashvanian she has yet to receive all the evidence in Lee’s case.
“Your Honor, there is still outstanding discovery,” Padilla said. “Mr. Lee also now has an additional case and we are requesting to waive time. … There are still dispatch records, call logs and some body-worn videos.”
Attorneys for Isaiah Lee are demanding for more evidence about Lee’s alleged murder attempt of his roommate last December. David BuchanLee, who was still wearing an arm brace on his right shoulder from an injury he sustained after security and others from Chappelle’s crew restrained him, was back in court on Friday for a pretrial hearing related to the alleged attack on Chappelle at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on May 3.
Lee pleaded not guilty to four misdemeanor charges, including battery and possessing a deadly weapon with intent to assault.
The judge granted Lee more time in the misdemeanor case and continued the pretrial hearing to June 2.
Lee answered, “Yes, your Honor,” after the judge asked if he understood that his hearing would be trailed to another date.
Dave Chappelle stated he was outraged that Isaiah Lee was not charged with a felony following his alleged attack, according to his attorney Gabriel Colwell. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Isaiah Lee is seen wearing a white shirt and a brown vest during a hearing at a Downtown Los Angeles court. David BuchanOn Friday, the 23-year-old defendant was in regular brown jail garb instead of the blue “suicide gown” he was seen wearing during prior court appearances on his misdemeanor case.
Lee, who raps under the name “NoName_Trapper” and has penned a song called “Dave Chappell,” will be back in court on the same date to answer to the attempted murder charge involving his former roommate.
He was also charged with attempted murder Thursday for an alleged knife attack on his former roommate last year.
According to prosecutors, Lee allegedly attacked and stabbed his former roommate at a transitional living facility on Dec. 2.
He remains in a Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of a $1,030,000 bail.
Chappelle’s attorney, Gabriel Colwell, told The Post that the comedian was “upset” that Lee wasn’t hit with a felony charge for the brazen stage attack because Lee had a deadly weapon– a replica gun with a knife– on him.
In a statement provided to The Post, LA County District Attorney spokesman Greg Risling said Lee was not charged with a felony because Lee did not open the knife “at any time” during the May 3 incident.
LA County District Attorney George Gascón said the publicity from the Chappelle incident helped LAPD investigators solve the unrelated attempted murder case.
“The incident that occurred at the Hollywood Bowl was a misdemeanor conduct and rightfully referred to the City Attorney’s Office,” Gascón said in a statement. “Based on the nature and severity of the December attack, Mr.Lee is now facing felony charges which my office will prosecute.”
Critics of Gascón, however, said failing to file felony charges against Lee in the Chappelle case was a mistake.
Deputy Public Defender Chelsea Padilla requested more information on “dispatch records, call logs and some body-worn videos” of Isaiah Lee’s alleged crimes. David Buchan“George (Gascón) said this perpetrator didn’t intend to hurt Chappelle,” Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami told The Post. “He said the attack on Chappelle was misdemeanor conduct. Now we find out that months earlier this same person attempted to kill someone with a knife. Clearly, George lacks real life prosecutorial experience. … And he clearly isn’t able to admit when he was wrong.”
