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Cassidy’s chance

for a release may have been bolstered yesterday at a preliminary hearing yesterday

(July 19) when a witness testified on the stand that he initially lied to detectives

when he implicated the rapper in a shootout in Philadelphia that left one man

dead.

Cassidy, born Barry Reese, is charged with murdering 22-year-old

Desmond Hawkins and wounding Daniel Irvin, 22, and Bobby Hoyle, 21 after an

earlier dispute at a local drug store.

Hoyle testified that the victim went to Cassidy’s home

to “make peace” after an associate of Cassidy and an associate of

Hawkins were involved in a confrontation earlier at a Rite Aid store earlier

that day.

When Hawkins knocked on Cassidy’s door, Hoyle testified

that Cassidy opened the door brandishing a gun.

Cassidy allegedly told the men to go behind his row home and

that’s when multiple shots were fired into the vehicle.

"We pulled up and shots rang out," Hoyle said. "I

heard stuff hitting the van, and I felt the bullet pierce my leg.”

Hoyle and Irvin suffered minor injuries, while Hawkins was fatally

wounded.

Hoyle admitted that he lied about a signed statement he gave

to officers testifying that he saw Cassidy actually firing the weapon.

On the stand yesterday, Hoyle admitted that he didn’t

actually witness Cassidy firing a weapon.

“I wanted to go home,” Hoyle said about making his

earlier statement. “I had a bullet in my leg that they didn’t take out,

and I didn’t have any rest for three days."

Hoyle and the prosecution stated that Cassidy and associates

ambushed the men, something Cassidy’s lawyer denied.

The judge in the

case set another evidence hearing for August 16, while prosecutors analyze ballistics

evidence.