By Mike Winslow
A judge presiding over the murder trial of Corey "C-Murder" Miller tossed the rapper’s request to have the case dismissed, after defense lawyers argued that the original grand jury was tainted by prosecution witnesses.
Miller, who is charged with second-degree murder for allegedly shooting a 16-year-old to death inside of Harvey nightclub in 2002, faces a life sentence if convicted of the crime during his upcoming trial.
According to the Times-Picayune, Miller’s attorneys requested the case to be thrown out, claiming that a grand jury that indicted him in 2002 heard witnesses testimony that was irrelevant to Miller’s murder case.
Attorney’s for the rapper claim that the grand jury was prejudiced by witnesses testimony that centered around a 2001 incident in which Miller allegedly attempted to shoot a security officer at Club Raggs in Baton, Rouge.
The rapper’s attorney also unsuccessfully attempted to bar certain evidence from being introduced into trial, including clothing Miller wore the night Thomas was murdered and a cell phone seized from his jail cell in April 2002.
The rapper was originally convicted of the crime in September 2003, but the verdict was overturned when it was learned that prosecutors expunged the criminal records of certain witnesses in order to boost their credibility.
The Supreme Court in Louisiana agreed with Sassone’s ruling for a new trial, which is set to begin June 9.
Miller also faces a separate trial for two second-degree attempted murder charges, after he allegedly pulled a gun on a security officer and attempted to fire it twice at the owner of Club Raggs during th incident, which was captured on surveillance cameras.
Miller, 36, faces a mandatory life in prison if convicted of the murder, while he faces 50 years in prison for the Club Raggs incident.
In related news, Miller is back in the recording studio working on material for a new album, sources told AllHipHop.com.
