German rapper arrested during Charlotte visit sees assault charge dropped
Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday dismissed charges in a case involving a famous rapper accused of choking a woman in Charlotte, according to his lawyer.
Police arrested German sensation Marten Laciny, known as Marteria to his fans, on March 30 on an assault charge, according to public records on Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office website. He was later released on a $5,000 bond, and Tuesday the charges were dismissed, said Robert DeCurtins, Laciny’s defense attorney.
The 41-year-old singer has more than 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and his hit song “Lila Wolken” has more than 99 million streams on Spotify. “Verstrahlt” was featured in the video game FIFA12.
He also played professional soccer for FC Hansa Rostock and Germany’s under-17 team, and he has modeled for Hugo Boss and Diesel.
He and his accuser — a woman from Berlin — were visiting Charlotte for a basketball game, DeCurtins told the Observer Tuesday. It’s not clear if the game was the Charlotte Hornets NBA game.
The Charlotte Hornets played the Oklahoma City Thunder March 28, according to the team’s schedule. Laciny was arrested and charged two days later.
The singer was not in court Tuesday.
The case was dismissed due to insufficient evidence and not being able to move forward without either the victim’s testimony or physical evidence of injury, the DA’s office confirmed to the Observer on Wednesday morning. The victim did not want to proceed with prosecution and declined medical treatment, Meghan McDonald, the office’s Community Liaison Coordinator wrote in an email to The Observer.
This story was originally published April 18, 2023 at 3:38 PM.
