Corey Miller BKA rapper C-Murder was convicted yesterday of second-degree murder for the 2002 shooting of a 16-year-old fan named Steve Thomas during a nightclub brawl in a Louisiana nightclub, reports the AP.
According to the testimony, Steve idolized C-Murder and when he learned the rapper was appearing at the nightclub he used a fake ID to get in. While at the club, Steve took part in the freestyle rap competition and sometime after a fight broke out. He was beaten and stomped by several gang members and - get this - while Steve laid on his back, pummeled by punches and kicks, C-Murder fired a single shot into the center of Steve's chest. The .38-caliber class bullet punctured his heart and left lung.
The jury reached the 10-2 verdict around 1:30 p.m. in its second day of deliberations. Jurors had reached the same verdict earlier in the day, but Judge Hans Liljeberg ordered them back to the jury room for more deliberation because of a questionable vote. Ten votes are required for a second-degree murder conviction.
After the verdict's initial reading one juror apparently changed her vote just to end deliberations - rendering the verdict invalid. Three jurors had been seen crying in the courtroom Tuesday morning, and the day before they sent a note that they were having trouble reaching a consensus.
The invalid verdict prompted C-Murder's attorney -- who has said several times that his client has not been able to pay him for his representation and he made a failed bid in April to be removed from the case -- to move for a mistrial saying that the judge had pressured the jury into reaching a verdict.
In the jury room, the jurors who believed he was guilty tried to convince any of the three others to change their vote, which resulted in "a lot of yelling, a lot of arguing and a couple of people getting violently sick and vomiting. It definitely took a toll on us," a later juror said.
One juror was also reading a Bible - which is not allowed - and began to quote scriptures in the deliberation room. She sent a note to the judge asking to be dismissed.
The judge spoke with the Bible-toting juror and a others who were feeling distressed in chambers.
The courtroom was completely silent when the verdict was given for the second time. More than a dozen law enforcement officers filled the center aisle, and the judge had warned that anyone who so much as gasped would be arrested.
C-Murder's father, Percy Miller Sr., was ordered out of the courthouse earlier in the day, after exchanging words with the court clerk.
After the verdict, the rest of his family and friends cried outside the courtroom. His sister, Germaine Miller, shouted and accused the prosecutors of corruption.
"This isn't over," said Marie Miller, C-Murder's aunt. "This verdict is wrong. We will not let this rest."
He faces faces life in prison.
If you're following C-Murder's criminal history, then you know he was found guilty of killing Steve, but a judge overturned the 2003 conviction, siding with defense attorneys who said prosecutors improperly withheld criminal background information on three key witnesses.
He has been in jail after pleading no contest to two counts of attempted murder in a separate altercation at a nightclub in Baton Rouge in 2001. He faces sentencing later this month in that case.
UPDATE: He's been sentenced to life in prison for shooting Steve.
source source
0 comments:
Post a Comment