Kanye West pleads not guilty over scuffle with snapper
Kanye West pleads not guilty over incident at Los Angeles airport
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Tuesday, 19, May 2009 02:37
Rap star Kanye West had pleaded not guilty to assault, theft and vandalism charges over an incident at a Los Angeles airport last year.
The Stronger star was arrested at Los Angeles international airport on September 11th last year after allegedly smashing a photographer's camera.
While West's actions were not considered a felony offence, his lawyer Blair Berk will appear in a Los Angeles court on Friday to enter not guilty please to charges of misdemeanour vandalism, battery and grand theft.
The next hearing in the case will be held on July 15th.
Footage of the incident was made public by the celebrity website TMZ.com and appeared to show West and his bodyguard grab and then smash a photographer's camera as they made their way through the airport.
West and his road manager, Don Crawley, 32, were both arrested and subsequently freed on bail.
The 808s and Heartbreak rapper was also arrested in Newcastle in November 2008 after a "thirsty paparazzo" attempted to photograph him as he left a Newcastle club.
Writing on his personal blog after the incident, West explained he was not charged and did not assault anyone but called for a law to prevent paparazzi intrusion.
"When will there be a law passed that simply enforces that someone has to ask to take a photograph of you? That would seem like common courtesy," he said.
"Right now the paps are above the law and the people they shoot are below it. What should be illegal is pictures taken with the intent to sell… like drugs with the intent to sell... or crossing customs with enough merchandise to have the intent to sell."