Rapper Flavor Flav, at court for traffic case, offers condolences to Nassau judge
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rapper Flavor Flav offered condolences Tuesday to a Nassau judge on the recent death of his father while appearing in court on a felony traffic case.
Flav, 56, whose real name is William Drayton Jr., faces charges including speeding and driving with a suspended license after State Police pulled him over in January 2014 as he drove to his mother's funeral.
"I just wanted to say I'm so sorry to hear about your dad," the member of Roosevelt group Public Enemy told acting state Supreme Court Justice Terence Murphy.
Murphy had first apologized for a prior delay in the rapper's case because of his father's passing, and also had thanked the defendant for previously sending along condolences.
The judge said a scheduled hearing in Drayton's case couldn't go forward Tuesday because he had a separate trial under way in his courtroom. He then ordered the defendant to appear Oct. 13, telling lawyers for the prosecution and defense to use the time to contemplate working out a deal.
"We're getting close to resolving the matter, taking into consideration the circumstances of what happened," Drayton's lawyer, Todd Greenberg of Forest Hills, said on the way out of court.
Drayton, who had a local bail bonds crew among his supporters, called the criminal matter "one of the most expensive cases that I ever had in my life." He cited the cost of plane tickets back and forth between his Las Vegas home and New York, adding: "I really want to put this behind me, man, so I can just go on with my life. You know what I'm saying?"