The 62-year-old, whose real name is Nathaniel Glover, allegedly stabbed John Jolly twice in the chest with a steak knife shortly before midnight on August 1, 2017. He was angry, prosecutors say, because he thought Jolie was gay and hit him. But Glover, a founding member of the rap band Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, was acting in self-defense, according to his lawyer. The rapper was reportedly on foot in Manhattan for maintenance when Mr. Jolie approached him and said, “What’s up?” The singer’s lawyer, Scottie Celestin, asked jurors to look into the circumstances. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is New York City. It’s 12 o’clock at night. Who says ‘What’ s up to you?” he said. “Of [Glover’s] “The fear for his life was reasonable.” Mr Celestin also said Mr Jolly had died from a dose of benzodiazepine sedative given to him in hospital and not from stab wounds. But Assistant Attorney Mark Dahl told the court that Glover confessed to police and did not stab Mr. Jolly in self-defense, but rather angry because he thought Jolly was hitting him. “The accused confessed to pulling out a kitchen knife and repeatedly throwing it at a stranger on the street, killing him,” Dahl said. “Was there anything that would stop him from escaping Mr. Jolie? No”. Image: Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five (with Kidd Creole far right) in 2004 Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five formed in the late 1970s in the Bronx and had a number of hits in the early 1980s, including The Message and White Lines (Don’t Do It). They became the first rap actor to enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. The trial continues on Monday.
