Rapper Mystikal pleads not guilty to rape and drug charges

(Photo by Robb D. Cohen/Invision/AP, File)

The Grammy-nominated rapper Mystikal has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of raping and choking a woman at his home in Louisiana and of possessing several drugs.

The 51-year-old performer, whose real name is Michael Tyler, is innocent of all charges, lawyer Joel Pearce said after the hearing in Ascension Parish court in Gonzales, about 15 miles from Baton Rouge.