CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

Dressed up in a suit and tie, ex-NFL player Jonathan Martin appeared in an L.A. courtroom Wednesday to face the judge in his weapons case ... where he allegedly threatened to shoot multiple people.

Martin had been charged with 4 counts of making criminal threats and 1 count of possessing a loaded firearm after posting a cryptic message aimed at former NFL teammates and high school classmates.

The message showed a picture of a gun and bullets and said, "When you're a bully victim & a coward your options are suicide, or revenge."

Cops tracked down Martin hours after the post -- who was allegedly carrying a loaded gun, knife and ax -- and took him into custody. He was then placed into a mental health facility for evaluation.

A judge had previously approved Martin to leave the facility -- but ordered him to wear a GPS device and alcohol monitoring anklet.

Patton Oswalt can do a small victory dance in his late wife's honor because her posthumously released crime book might've led to the arrest of an alleged serial killer and rapist ... known as the Golden State Killer.

Cops in the Sacramento area arrested 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo early Wednesday morning, and booked him for 2 murders they believe are linked to a string of unsolved killings, rapes and home burglaries in California in the '70s and '80s.

Michelle McNamara, Patton's late wife, referred to DeAngelo as the main suspect in the case in her book, "I'll Be Gone in the Dark." Patton helped finish the book with Michelle's co-author after she died in 2016. As Patton put it after hearing about the arrest, "You got him, Michelle."

Police haven't confirmed yet, but people who cover the case think Michelle's book started a new push to make an arrest in the cold case.

Judge Genece Brinkley is "a little sad and a little delusional" for not removing herself from Meek Mill's case ... so says Meek's lawyer.

Joe Tacopina is incredulous at statements made by Brinkley's lawyer that her honor will not recuse herself from Meek's case. Tacopina tells TMZ, Judge Brinkley needs to reread the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision springing Meek from prison, noting the court said, "[Brinkley] may opt to remove herself from presiding over this matter," then citing Pennsylvania law that says it should be done "in the interest of justice."

Tacopina thinks Brinkley can't take a hint ... he says the Supreme Court is clearly giving her a wink and a nod that she should get out of the case.

One of Allison Mack's co-stars on "Smallville" says she was fairly normal while shooting the show, and never showed any signs she might have been part of an alleged sex cult.

We got Sam Jones III -- who starred alongside Mack for 3 seasons -- and he tells us she had a boyfriend at the time, and he never suspected she would get arrested for alleged ties to the self-help group, Nxivm -- for which she's accused of recruiting women to be "sex slaves."

Smallville's Pete Ross offered his ex-castmate some advice ahead of her trial, where she's facing sex trafficking and conspiracy charges ... and could get 15 years in prison. His tip has to do with the residuals from the show, which -- as Sam showed us -- are still pretty fat.

Chuck D says Meek Mill is not the same man -- or artist -- he was when he first went into prison 5 months ago ... and, as such, his music should reflect it going forward.

We got the Public Enemy MC Tuesday at LAX on the heels of the news Meek was being released from prison, and Chuck thinks the Philly rapper is a changed person for the better now that he is back on the outside.

Our photog asks if this will inspire Meek to start putting out tracks that will carry a message. Based on his answer (and also his own personal history) ... we're assuming Chuck wouldn't be mad if he started speaking for the people.

Prince's ex-wife doesn't buy Sinead O'Connor's claims he was violent toward women and abused hard drugs ... because she never saw a shred of evidence to support that.

Mayte Garcia -- who was married to Prince from 1996 to 2000 -- tells TMZ he was never violent with her and she never witnessed him being violent with anyone ... man or woman. She also says he didn't do hard drugs while they were together, and she only saw him drunk once.

Garcia's very skeptical of Sinead's self-proclaimed close relationship with Prince ... telling us she seriously doubts she could have known more than she did.

Mayte has a problem with the timing of Sinead's allegations, too ... because Prince wasn't alive to defend himself.

Garcia admits she found the reports of Prince's deadly pill stash shocking and heartbreaking, because she knew him for years and didn't see anything like that.

Meek Mill's judge will NOT remove herself from his drug and weapons case ... despite the Pennsylvania Supreme Court inviting her to do so ... TMZ has learned.

Judge Genece Brinkley maintains she has been giving and will continue to give Meek a fair shake, this according to her lawyer, A. Charles Peruto, Jr.

Peruto tells TMZ the judge does not feel the Supreme Court in any way repudiated her rulings when it ordered that Meek go free without bail, pending the next hearing in June.

The hearing will determine if the drug and weapons case should be thrown out because of the testimony of a crooked cop, and Peruto suggested Judge Brinkley will not necessarily side with the prosecutor and Meek's lawyer, both of whom are asking the judge to toss the conviction.

Peruto says there were other cops who testified in the case, and if their credibility is intact the judge might not overturn the conviction.

Judge Brinkley's lawyer says the judge bears no grudge against Meek and insists she's been fair from the start.

Did you know ... the Villanova basketball team was SUPPOSED to ring the bell at the 76ers game Tuesday night until they got bumped for Meek Mill?

It's true ... but they seemed VERY cool with the change of plans and kicked it with the freed rapper in the moments before tip off.

The Nova players -- who won the NCAA National Championship this year -- were stoked to see Meek ... and huddled together for a photo right before Meek went out and rang the bell.

Meek Mill just walked on the court at the Wells Fargo Center -- wearing a Joel Embiid jersey -- and the crowd lost their minds!!!

Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin personally escorted the rapper from prison to the arena to be the guest of honor for Game 5 against the Miami Heat ... and he even got to ring the bell before tip-off.

As we expected ... Sixers fans -- including Kevin Hart by his side -- erupted in cheers for several moments for their hometown guy, who many felt was wrongly locked up for the past 5 months.

Before the game, the players took the floor to Meek's "Ima Boss" as he glad-handed fans and supporters courtside. He also got in a post-prison shower in the team locker room.

Tekashi69's manager is under criminal investigation for two shootings that went down the day of Adrien Broner's fight ... and the moments leading up to the incident were caught on tape.

Law enforcement sources tell us 6ix9ine's manager, Tr3yway, is a person of interest in two separate gun-related incidents over the weekend -- one that occurred during the Broner fight, and another that went down just hours earlier on the streets of Brooklyn.

We're told police believe Tr3yway might be the person who fired a shot inside the Barclays Center after a fight broke out with Casanova's crew, based on surveillance video. They also think he might've been the guy who fired two shots 4 hours beforehand, when he was allegedly captured on video shooting at a car following Tekashi's SUV.

Cops tell us the suspect in the footage from both incidents resembles Tr3yway -- who'd been hanging out with 6ix9ine and Foodgod, Jonathan Cheban, over the weekend ... who was filming his new show.

In the footage from outside the arena, obtained by TMZ, you see what eyewitnesses tell us is Tekashi's SUV presumably heading to Barclays. It stops suddenly, and a guy we're told is Tr3yway hops out and runs in the opposite direction ... at which point he allegedly fired.

Sources say Tekashi got out in the vid, as well, but you can't make out his face -- or hair -- 'cause he's got a hoodie on. Criminal charges have yet to be brought against Tr3yway. Still ... considering Tekashi's crew has been linked to a THIRD shooting this week ... they might wanna lay low.

He made it ... Meek Mill has finally arrived at Wells Fargo Center in Philly in time for the 76ers playoff game -- but first things first, dude needs a shower.

Meek arrived with 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin -- who flew Meek from the prison to the arena on his private helicopter.

Once he landed, Meek and his crew got in a waiting SUV and booked it for the arena.

Meek will hit the showers -- let's face it, gotta wash that prison stench off his body -- and then he'll get his hero's welcome before the 76ers take on the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the playoffs.

"I feel great," Meek said.

Enjoy it!

Meek Mill is out of prison ... and in a helicopter heading for the Philadelphia 76ers playoff game!!!

Sources tell us the chopper belongs to 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin, Meek's close friend who promised to personally pick him up.

Meek has about an hour to get to the arena if he wants to make it for tip off ... and with this kind of air transportation, he'll probably make it!!

Jay-Z just spoke on Meek's release saying, "Today, Meek Mill, a son of Philadelphia, is a free man. He was incarcerated unjustly and caught in a probation trap for years by a broken system. Now we can celebrate his release. We thank every individual that has supported and fought alongside Meek every step of the way."

A statement from Roc Nation adds, "We are pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision to grant Meek Mill bail and allow him to return home to his loved ones."

It continues, "We are grateful for all the support that Meek has received from his fans and public advocates over the past five months and look forward to working alongside Meek to fight for criminal justice reform.”

The prison is about 12 miles from the arena -- where the 76ers will take on the Miami Heat in Game 5 of their NBA playoff series.

The 76ers are up 3 games to 1 and have a chance to close out the series tonight!!!

Meek Mill's lawyer is happy, optimistic and feels vindicated after a long legal war finally led to the rapper's release from prison ... but he's not popping the champagne just yet.

Joe Tacopina tells TMZ he's relieved because Meek finally gets to be home with his family where he belongs, but still seems to be in disbelief over all the trouble he had to go through to get there ... which he says is unlike anything he's ever seen before.

Tacopina points specifically to the actions of Judge Genece Brinkley, who he feels had a legal vendetta against Meek from day one and was consistently unprofessional. On the plus side, Joe feels his time dealing with the judge is coming to an end ... whether it's by her choice or not.

More importantly, Tacopina firmly believes Meek is out of jail for good -- regardless of what Judge Brinkley does -- and eventually the right ruling will be made and he'll officially be a free man.

Cardi B has just a few words for Meek Mill now that he's getting out of prison -- but they're quite telling, and in the same vein as ... awww sh******eeeeetttt!!!!!

We got the "Bodak Yellow" rapper Tuesday as she was heading into LAX, where we asked if she had any thoughts on the big news of the day ... namely, Meek getting sprung.

We broke the story ... the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overruled Judge Genece Brinkley and ordered bail be set for Meek's immediate release. The justices cited the alleged corrupt police officer used as a "critical witness" in the rapper's OG criminal case as a main reason.

We just broke the news to Floyd Mayweather that Meek Mill is being released from prison ... and Floyd says he's really happy for the rapper.

Floyd and Meek have supported each other over the years -- Floyd's publicly praised Meek's music and Meek attended the Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight.

So, when we saw Floyd out in NYC shopping for jewelry, we had to ask what he thought about Meek getting out of prison after 5 months.

"I'm glad he home," Floyd said ... "He deserves to be home."

Meek Mill just stepped out of prison for the first time since being thrown behind bars in the fall ... directly onto a waiting helicopter!!!

The Philly-based rapper walked out of Chester State Correctional Institution on Tuesday after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered bail for Meek so he could go free ... overruling Judge Genece Brinkley, who wanted to keep him in there for at least another 60 days.

We broke the story ... Meek was ordered to be released Tuesday, and he issued a statement thanking the District Attorney's Office, the PA Supreme Court, his legal team and all of his friends, family and fans who showed support while he was locked up. He was facing a 2-4 year prison sentence that was handed down at the beginning of November.

He also said he plans to shine a light on other cases where people of color are improperly jailed, and promised to fight to overturn his OG conviction and resume his rap career.

76ers co-owner Michael Rubin vowed to personally pick Meek up from prison and came through strong -- bringing his helicopter to the prison! The group then flew straight to Wells Fargo Center just in time for Game 5 against the Miami Heat.