C-Murder Sprung

Rapper released from prison on $500,000 and placed under house arrest while he awaits retrial in murder case

By Josh Grossberg Mar 21, 2006 10:00 PMTags

The artist formerly known as C-Murder is seeing freedom. Sort of.

Corey Miller, the Louisiana rapper who changed his stage name from C-Murder to C-Miller after a murder conviction, was released from prison Monday night on $500,000 bond. Miller, the brother of star rappers Master P (aka Percy Miller) and Silkk the Shocker (aka Vyshonn Miller), will remain under house arrest pending a retrial on a second-degree murder charge after the state supreme court tossed his conviction last week.

The 35-year-old hip-hopster, who was initially given a life sentence for the January 2002 killing of 16-year-old Steve Thomas outside a nightclub, was released over the objections of prosecutors, who called him a "danger to the community."

Miller's lawyer, Ron Rakosky, was unavailable for comment Tuesday, but he told MTV News that his client will remain "under house arrest...until the court changes those conditions or decides to drop the charges."

"The restrictions forbid him to talk to anyone except his lawyers and family," Rakosky continued. "And he's not allowed to go anywhere except court or my office, which probably won't change."

Aside from posting the $500,000 bond amount set by a judge last week, Miller's family also managed to come up with a $250,000 bond for the rapper in a separate case of attempted second-degree murder for allegedly shooting a nightclub owner and a security guard in August 2001. A trial in that case is set for May 30.

According to the New Orleans Times Picayune, prosecutors strongly objected to Miller's release, citing previous statements in which he allegedly threatened another prosecutor and his family and boasted that he "could reach out and touch anybody" from prison. Nonetheless, State District Court Judge Martha Sassone okayed the house arrest.

Miller spent a total of four and a half years behind bars for Thomas' death before Sassone ruled that Miller deserved a new trial. The judge determined prosecutors in the original trial withheld key information about witnesses they called to implicate him. A state appeals court overturned her decision, but the Louisiana Supreme Court reinstated Sassone's ruling Friday, clearing the way for a new trial.

While the family awaits a new trial, they can celebrate a few moments of together time. Aside from C-Miller's release, Master P and Silkk won't be facing any jail time on gun charges in Los Angeles. The brothers copped pleas earlier this month, with both ordered to perform community service and pay a $700 fine and Silkk also being placed on three years' probation.