Corey "C-Murder" Miller, younger brother
of mogul Master P, has been granted a new trial after being convicted last year
of shooting a teenager to death in a Jefferson Parish night club.
New Orleans State District Judge Martha Sassone
ruled today (April 6) that Miller deserves a new trial because prosecutors withheld
information about key witnesses that were used to implicate Miller.
Miller’s attorney’s argued that prosecutors failed
to disclose that key witnesses had criminal records and were given special consideration
for their testimony.
"He got dealt a bad hand," Master P
told AllHipHop.com. "[The] reality is gonna come out because there is a
man up above. That situation with C-Murder could happen to anyone one of us.
You are an innocent man and you are going through what C is going through –
he’s a soldier. He’s definitely a strong person because the average person would
have broke down."
Miller was convicted in September of the shooting
death of 16-year-old Steve Thomas in the Platinum night club. Miller pled not
guilty to the shooting.
In December at a hearing for the retrial, a
woman that was a key prosecution witness during the murder trial testified that
she did not see Miller shoot the boy, but said she witnessed another man with
a gun moments before the shooting.
Eloise Matthews testified under oath that she
stood on a chair and witnessed Miller beating Thomas, but fell and did not witness
the shooting.
Matthews claimed that just before the shooting,
she witnessed another man known as "Calliope Slim" with a gun.
Matthews testified she told Jefferson Parish
detectives before the trial about "Calliope Slim," who takes his moniker
from the same projects that reared Miller, his older brother Master P. and their
youngest brother Silkk The Shocker.
When asked why she didn’t reveal this information
during the trial, Matthews said that no one asked her.
Matthews said that Detective Donald Clogher cleared
her parking tickets and an arrest warrant out for her friend Tenika Rankins
on felony theft charges was lifted.
Rankins’ criminal record and the clearing of
tickets were withheld from the defense, which defense attorney’s said cast doubt
on their credibility and the prosecutions case.
Miller is facing a mandatory sentence of life
without parole in prison.
The rapper will have a hearing on Monday that
will determine whether or not he will be freed on bond.
