Lil Durk kept his head down as the federal courtroom clerk began reading the verdicts that could determine the course of the rest of his life.

Then came the second “not guilty.”

The Grammy-winning Chicago rapper began wiping away tears.

By the time the jury finished, Durk had been acquitted on all five counts in his federal murder-for-hire trial, bringing an emotional end to a three-week courtroom battle in Los Angeles that had drawn intense attention from across the hip-hop world.

Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, had appeared visibly nervous before the verdict. According to the Los Angeles Times, he swayed back and forth and moved in his chair before jurors entered. As the individual verdicts were announced, he kept his head down.

After the second acquittal was read, the emotion became visible.

Durk began crying, while defense attorney Christy O’Connor linked arms with him as he broke down. Behind him, his wife, India Royale, wrapped her arm around his mother, LaShawnda Woodard, who was also in tears.

It was the culmination of a trial in which Durk faced five federal charges, including conspiracy to commit stalking, stalking using a dangerous weapon, stalking resulting in death and two murder-for-hire-related counts.

He was found not guilty of every one.

Courtroom Erupts With Emotion

The courtroom had been packed ahead of the verdict, with more than 60 people inside and additional spectators unable to enter.

U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald anticipated the possibility of an emotional reaction and warned those in the gallery to maintain decorum as the verdicts were announced.

The room largely complied, although gasps and at least one clap could be heard as Durk's not-guilty verdicts came in.

The emotional scene reflected just how much was riding on the jury's decision.

Federal prosecutors had accused Durk of financing and orchestrating an August 2022 attack targeting Atlanta rapper Quando Rondo, whose legal name is Tyquian Bowman.

Prosecutors alleged the shooting was retaliation for the 2020 killing of Durk's close friend and collaborator King Von.

Bowman survived the Los Angeles attack, but his cousin Saviay’a “Lul Pab” Robinson was killed.

Durk's attorneys maintained throughout the trial that their client did not order the shooting and did not knowingly participate in the alleged plot. The defense aggressively challenged the credibility of the government's cooperating witnesses and argued that Durk's former personal assistant Kavon Grant was responsible for organizing the operation without Durk's knowledge.

After three days of deliberations, the jury rejected the government's case against Durk on every count.

50 Cent Praises Drew Findling

The verdict quickly reverberated beyond the courthouse.

50 Cent was among the prominent figures celebrating Durk's defense team, singling out attorney Drew Findling after the acquittal.

50 shared an image of Findling speaking outside the courthouse and celebrated him as the “Billion Dollar Lawyer,” a nickname connected to Findling's long career representing high-profile figures in hip-hop and the title of an upcoming scripted project that 50 is executive producing based on the attorney's career.

Findling himself emerged from the courthouse declaring the verdict a historic victory for his client.

But he also immediately turned his attention toward the part of Durk's legal battle that remains unfinished.

“The shackles must come off,” Findling told supporters outside the courthouse, arguing that Durk should be allowed to return to his family.

Durk Still Isn't Going Home

Despite the celebration, Durk did not walk out of the courthouse a free man.

He remains in federal custody because he faces a separate prosecution involving murder-related racketeering and firearms allegations. That case was severed from the charges decided by the first jury and is scheduled for trial Oct. 5. Durk has pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges.

That created a striking contrast inside the courthouse.

Durk had just survived one of the most consequential trials of his career. His wife and mother were crying. His attorneys were embracing him. Supporters gathered outside celebrated after hearing that the government had failed to secure a conviction against him on any of the five charges.

But Durk was still in custody.

The acquittal resolved the murder-for-hire prosecution before that jury. It did not dispose of the separate federal case waiting for him.

For one afternoon, however, the focus was on what had just happened inside the courtroom.

Prosecutors had spent weeks attempting to convince jurors that Durk financed a deadly revenge plot. His attorneys argued that the government was relying on compromised cooperating witnesses and evidence that did not establish Durk personally ordered the attack.

The jury deliberated for three days.

Then the clerk began reading the verdicts.

Not guilty.

Not guilty.

By the second one, Durk was already in tears.

Three more followed.