WWLTV Reports
Attorneys selected four jurors Monday in the second murder trial of rapper Corey "C-Murder" Miller.
Miller is charged with the second-degree murder of a 16-year-old in a now-closed nightclub in Harvey back in 2002.
The judge began questioning potential jurors individually to see how much they've heard about the case that has twisted and turned in court, and in the public spotlight, for seven years.
After a month-long trial, a Jefferson Parish jury convicted Miller of second-degree murder in 2003. But the judge in the case, Judge Martha Sassone, threw the conviction out. Her handling of the case was the subject of her heated re-election bid last year when her challenger, Ellen Kovach, criticized Sassone’s handling of the C-Murder case. Kovach won the election and later recused herself from it.
It was just one of the many turns of events in the murder of 16-year-old Steve Thomas that generated publicity.
Over the years, Miller made a rap video from inside the Jefferson Parish jail, drawing the ire of the late Sheriff Harry Lee.
Lee said during a 2002 press conference, "He just wants to be a gangster and it may very well be that he's living out his lyrics, or he wants to live 'em out and write another song or whatever he's doing.”
Publicity played a role in Miller’s second murder trial, as his attorney tried to get it moved to another parish.
“It really hasn't been publicity about the substance of the case as much as it has been about the name of the defendant,” said Loyola Law Professor Dane Ciolino.
Miller's attorney, Ron Rakowsky, tried once again to get the case moved out of Jefferson Parish before jury selection began Monday. Rakowsky told the judge in court, "As much as we try, I think it's going to be impossible to get a fair jury here."
Prosecutors argued that enough time has lapsed between the murder and the trial that publicity isn't as much of an issue.
Publicity swirled again three months ago when Miller pleaded no contest to two counts of attempted second-degree murder in a Baton Rouge nightclub shooting, where the rapper was caught on surveillance video.
“If it turns out throughout this voir dire process that so many jurors know so much about the case that it prejudicially affects their ability to sit as a fair and impartial juror, I don't think the judge would have much of a choice other than to try this case in some other judicial district,” Ciolino said.
The professor continued, saying Rakowsky's attempts to move the trial were likely legal maneuvers as much as they are attempts at fairness.
“Jefferson Parish juries are typically more conservative. It's not a very defendant-friendly jurisdiction. And for that reason alone, I'm sure defense lawyers would like to be in another parish,” he said.
Miller’s last trial depended solely on eyewitness testimony, and often featured conflicting eyewitness testimony from the defense. hat could by why defense attorneys said in court Monday that the prosecutors filed notice that they may call as many as 85 witnesses in the case.
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