Kodak Black has scored a significant legal victory in Florida after a Broward County judge dismissed the felony fleeing-and-eluding case against him stemming from a February encounter with law enforcement.

Broward Circuit Judge George Odom granted the defense's motion to dismiss the charge on Tuesday, Sept. 8, bringing the case to an end months after Kodak, whose legal name is Bill Kapri, was arrested over allegations that he drove away from a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy.

The charge was dismissed with prejudice, preventing prosecutors from bringing the same charge against Kodak again.

The decision centered on a fundamental question: Was Kodak actually ordered by police to stop before he drove away?

His attorneys argued the evidence showed he wasn't.

The February Encounter

The case dated back to Feb. 27 in Pompano Beach, where a Broward Sheriff’s deputy encountered Kodak behind the wheel of a pink Jeep Grand Cherokee.

According to court records, the deputy approached after seeing the vehicle obstructing traffic. The encounter eventually unfolded near Northwest 18th Drive and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

But body-camera footage became crucial to Kodak's defense.

According to a defense motion, the deputy parked several car lengths behind Kodak's vehicle and greeted him from a distance, asking, “Hey Yak, what’s goin’ on boss? You good?”

Kodak responded that he was fine.

The deputy then turned his attention toward other people who had arrived at the scene. Kodak eventually got back into the Jeep and drove away.

Authorities later alleged Kodak knew he had been ordered to stop and deliberately fled.

His attorneys argued the video showed something different.

Defense Says Kodak Was Never Ordered to Stay

Attorney Bradford Cohen argued that the interaction never developed into the type of detention necessary to support a fleeing-and-eluding charge.

“The deputy did not request Kapri’s license, did not request a copy of insurance, did not step away from his patrol vehicle to engage with Kapri or give a lawful order in any meaningful way,” the defense motion stated.

Cohen argued that the law requires a person to willfully disobey an actual order from law enforcement.

“An officer’s unexpressed intent is not an order, and a driver cannot willfully refuse to obey a command he was never given,” Cohen wrote.

Judge Odom ultimately granted the defense's request and dismissed the felony charge.

A resisting-without-violence charge connected to the encounter had already been dropped, leaving Kodak with no remaining charges from the Broward case.

Kodak Had Turned Himself In Months Earlier

Kodak was not arrested at the scene of the February encounter.

A warrant was subsequently issued, and the rapper surrendered to authorities in May. He was booked on allegations of fleeing and eluding law enforcement and resisting an officer without violence before posting bond.

Footage from that surrender later resurfaced online in September, leading some social-media users to mistakenly believe Kodak had been arrested again.

Cohen confirmed that the footage was from the May arrest and wasn't a new incident.

“This is not new,” Cohen told Complex on Sept. 8.

Ironically, the old arrest footage began circulating around the same time the underlying case was being thrown out.

Another Kodak Black Case Comes to an End

Cohen had criticized the Broward case from the beginning, arguing that Kodak was being charged over an encounter that didn't satisfy the legal requirements for fleeing and eluding.

Following the dismissal, the attorney celebrated the ruling publicly.

The decision doesn't erase Kodak's broader history of legal problems, nor does it resolve unrelated matters involving the rapper. It specifically ends the Broward County prosecution arising from the Feb. 27 encounter.

But in this case, the distinction that ultimately mattered was straightforward.

Prosecutors alleged Kodak fled from law enforcement.

His defense argued that he couldn't deliberately disobey an order he was never actually given.

The judge granted the defense motion, and the felony fleeing-and-eluding charge was dismissed with prejudice.