Louisiana Supreme Court Overturns C-Murder's Conviction

03/13/2006 8:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
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The Louisiana Supreme Court decided on Friday (March 10) to overturn a Court Of Appeal's ruling and clear the way for a new trial for rapper Corey "C-Murder" Miller. The rapper was found guilty of second-degree murder in September 2003 for shooting and killing 16-year-old Steve Thomas during an argument at Club Platinum in Harvey, Louisiana, on January 12, 2002. But that ruling was thrown out in April 2004 when Judge Martha Sassone ordered a new trial, after hearing testimony that some of the witnesses received favors from the police in exchange for testifying against the rapper.

Sassone's ruling was later overturned when two out of three judges on the 5th Circuit Court Of Appeal decided to uphold the original conviction. Allhiphop.com reports that prosecutors are still deliberating whether or not to retry the rapper on second-degree murder charges, and he might be freed on bail as soon as Monday (March 13).

A major turning point in the rapper's case was when a witness admitted during a December 2003 appeal hearing that she did not see C-Murder with a gun, but rather another man by the name of Calliope Slim. The witness said she told police what she saw but it wasn't brought up while she was on the stand during the original trial.

C-Murder has been behind bars since January 2002. If the second-degree murder conviction was upheld, the rapper would have faced a mandatory life sentence.

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