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.
