GRETNA, La. (AP) — A judge decided Wednesday that Corey Miller — who gained fame as rapper C-Murder — will remain in jail until his second-degree murder trial because he broke the rules of his house arrest.
State District Judge Hans Liljeberg said he was puzzled by reports that Corey Miller, who has been on house arrest for three years, had left his grandmother’s house for a few minutes at a time on several occasions. But he said he did not have that problem with hundreds of others he oversees.
“I don’t think it’s terribly unjust for the defendant to await trial across the street,” Liljeberg said in ordering Miller back to jail and doubling his bond to $1 million. Miller’s attorney, Ron Rakosky, would not say whether Miller will pay the higher bond.
Miller, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and shackled at the wrists and ankles, was surrounded by deputies and taken from the courtroom after the ruling. He is scheduled for trial April 20 in the death of Steve Thomas, a 16-year-old who was killed during a 2002 brawl at a nightclub in Harvey. As a condition of his original $500,000 bond, Miller was prohibited from leaving his grandmother’s home.
Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s deputy Mike Dawson, who supervises Miller’s incarceration, testified Wednesday that he was alerted about 3 a.m. Monday by an electronic monitor that indicated Miller had left the house.
Dawson said he called Miller’s house at 3:17 a.m., and Miller’s fiance, Sabrina Green, answered the phone and then handed it to Miller.
While he was speaking to Miller on a portable phone, Dawson said he heard in the background the monitor reacting as it would when Miller re-entered the property.
At Wednesday’s hearing Miller, his grandmother, cousin, aunt and fiance — who all live with him — testified that he was in bed sleeping when Dawson called.
Rakosky claimed an equipment malfunction caused the loss of signal and said Miller took an earlier warning from the judge too seriously to risk leaving his house.
Prosecutors last month asked the judge to jail Miller on grounds that he allegedly was out of range five times since October, for as little as two minutes to as long as 18 minutes. At that time, Liljeberg said he was not convinced that the monitoring equipment worked properly and refused to jail Miller.
However, the judge reminded Miller of comments he made in January, when he told the rapper he would “be looking for a reason” to increase his bond and warned him to conduct himself accordingly.
Miller has generally used the name C-Miller since his arrest. He has written a novel, “Death Around the Corner.”
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