Stevie Wonder’s cousin in hot water for trying to blackmail him
Stevie Wonder’s cousin Alpha L. Walker and his girlfriend Tamara E. Diaz have been ordered to stand trial on charges of extortion after it was reported that the duo had tried to sell an 80-minute ranting against Wonder’s treatment of his family for millions of dollars.
Now they find themselves in hell and hot water as Superior Court Judge Ray Jurado ruled that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to warrant a jury to deliberate if they had extorted Mr. Wonder. Walker and Diaz threatened to sell the film to the press unless the singer paid them the millions of dollars they were demanding for.
Their infamous act has earned them jail term since 2nd May. They were given a $10,000 down payment on a $500,000 agreement to hand over the film footage and keep its contents confidential.
Ian Wallach, attorney for Walker said his client had made a movie about his own life and was marketing it for sale and his actions were protected by the First Amendment arguing that the prosecution had not shown enough evidence supporting the case.
A police officer says the film is an 80-minute rant against Singer Stevie Wonder. Some portions were filmed in Wonder’s late mum’s now dilapidated former home, and it also shows Wonder’s son, who the musician is protective of. Walker, 38, accused the musician of being “a slumlord” and made derogatory comments about the singer’s mother according to witnesses.
A great deal of the accusations was not described in great detail in court Thursday, but it is reported that Wonder refused to grant an interview. Los Angeles Police Detective Tracey Benjamin pointed out however that “It was a continuous rant about the injustices that had been done to him — in his opinion — by Mr. Morris and that Mr. Morris was the cause of him having all of these issues in his life,”
Tracey who interviewed Wonder for the case, said Wonder was hurt by his cousin’s accusations and that they were all false. She said Wonder stated that paying his cousin money would be the only way to keep it from being sold to a news outlet and embarrassing him and his family.
“He explained that when something like this is released to the media, it is presumed to be true,” Benjamin said.
Walker and Diaz, are due to return to the court on July 26 for an arraignment hearing.
Category: Entertainment