Rap Star Convicted on Weapons Counts; May Face 19-Year Term

After deliberating just half a day, a jury found rap star Stanley “Flesh-N-Bone” Howse guilty Thursday of weapons charges that could send him to prison for more than 19 years.

Howse, 27, a member of the Grammy Award-winning rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, showed no emotion as jurors returned guilty verdicts for assault with an AK-47 semiautomatic firearm and possession of a firearm by a felon.

The four other members of the best-selling rap group were saddened by the verdict and won’t replace him if they tour this summer, said the group’s business lawyer, John K. Pierson.

“You have to understand, these guys are a family. They grew up together and it’s a family enterprise,” Pierson said.

Jurors said they didn’t believe the testimony of the victim, who on Monday denied just about everything police said he told them after his girlfriend reported the crime.

“His story changed from what he told police and what he told the detective to what he said on the stand,” said one juror, who declined to be named.

Instead, jurors believed the victim’s brother, whose testimony corroborated allegations that on Dec. 26 at a Woodland Hills apartment complex, Howse got into a dispute over his girlfriend, drew the weapon out of a baby crib, loaded it and pointed it at the victim.

“He knew he wasn’t supposed to have a gun,” another juror said. “It’s pretty obvious, if there are guns and it’s in his place.”

The rapper’s girlfriend, Jennifer Spencer, inadvertently helped the prosecution when she indicated on the stand that Howse did have a gun that day.

“Jennifer’s testimony confirmed the prosecution’s story,” one juror said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels applauded the verdict. “Once you got through all of the red herrings . . . it was clear that he did it,” said Samuels, who noted the irony that “the defendant’s girlfriend actually sealed his fate.”

This is Howse’s eighth conviction for a violent crime, including spousal abuse and assault, since his rap group moved here from Cleveland in 1993. He also has had several probation violations.

After this case is over, he faces another trial on weapons charges arising from a January incident in South Los Angeles, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

“This man just keeps getting more violent. I can’t think of what he’d do the next time he gets out,” Samuels said.

Howse’s group has produced four albums. The most recent, “BTNHResurrection,” debuted at No. 2 three months ago on pop music charts and sold 280,000 copies during its first week in stores. Previous albums by the group debuted at No. 1.

Howse is scheduled to be sentenced July 14 by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Darlene E. Schempp.

His lawyer, Phyllis Brown-Scarlett, said she plans to appeal. But she said the possibility of a long prison sentence does not mean that the rapper’s music career is over. In fact, according to those close to Howse, he is a prolific lyricist who has worked on raps while in jail.

“He works around the clock on his lyrics,” said Pierson, his business lawyer. “He’s gonna continue to write.”

Brown-Scarlett said writing lyrics is something Howse “can do in any setting.”