Busta Rhymes to Face Four Separate Trials

Yeah, I know. You looked at the headline and glanced at the photo of Busta Rhymes smiling like he just won the lottery, and then wondered, "OK, what's going on here?" Put it this way: Busta has a reason to celebrate, because a Manhattan District court rejected prosecutors' bid to consolidate all four of the rapper's trials into one case. Instead, the cases will be tried separately, with an opening date to be set at a September 5 hearing. On hearing the good news, the 34-year-old MC reportedly gave a celebratory "high five" hand slap to his defense attorney, Scott Leemon.

Busta Rhymes (born Trevor Smith Jr.) is facing individual charges for suspicion of drunk driving (May 3, 2007), driving with a suspended license, and on suspicion of assaulting his personal driver (December 26, 2006). In August 2006, he was also arrested for allegedly beating up a man who reportedly spat on his car.

In court, he turned down--for a second time--a plea deal that would have sent him to jail for one year in exchange for a guilty plea to four misdemeanor charges.

Busta, who's currently signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, released his 7th album The Big Bang in 2006.

Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images