C-MURDER GUITLY OF SECOND-DEGREE MURDER

Corey "C-Murder" Miller was found guilty of second-degree murder Tuesday afternoon by a Jefferson Parish jury, and this time the verdict will stand. The jury went out with instructions from Judge Hans Liljeberg on Monday at 11:20 a.m. and returned with a verdict more than 24 hours later after spending Monday night sequestered in a motel. Miller, 38, was accused of killing Steve Thomas, 16, inside the now-closed Platinum Club in Harvey early on the morning of Jan. 12, 2002.

Steve Thomas :

At least 15 police officers were in the room when the verdict was announced. At the defense's request, the jury was polled and the vote was revealed to be 10-2 in favor of conviction. Ten of 12 votes are required for a second-degree murder conviction. Unlike earlier today, Liljeberg said the verdict is a legal one. "The court finds that this is indeed a legal verdict," he said. "I know this was a tough case," Liljeberg added. Miller faces a mandatory life sentence in prison. The court will return Friday morning, when a date will be set for the sentencing hearing. "Thank God it's all over," Dolores Thomas, the victim's mother, said after the verdict was announced. "Now we can rest, and my baby, too." Miller's family was outspoken in its reaction to the verdict. His sister, Germany Miller, was screaming outside the parish courthouse in Gretna after the verdict came down, yelling that Jefferson Parish is corrupt. Corey did not kill that boy," said Maxine Miller, his grandmother. "I raised all my children in church. They want to treat them like criminals. ..."

Back story

C-Murder timeline

"The jurors didn't do right," she added.
The verdict came about 1:40 p.m., after a confusing morning when the jury returned to the courtroom just before 11 a.m. with a guilty verdict. However, Liljeberg said that verdict was invalid because he believed one juror may have changed his or her vote just to end the deliberations. He sent the jurors back for more deliberations. The court returned for a short session around 11:20 a.m., during which defense attorney Ron Rakosky moved for a mistrial, saying that Liljeberg had pressured the jury into reaching a verdict. Liljeberg denied the motion. "I don't think I pressured them at all," Liljeberg said. Earlier today, jurors complained about one member of the jury who was sleeping during some of the deliberations and was quoting from the Bible at other times. She asked to be excused from the jury, but Liljeberg denied her request.
It is not clear if that is the same juror that Liljeberg says may have changed her vote under duress. The jury had four choices: not guilty; guilty of second-degree murder; guilty of manslaughter, which carries up to 40 years in prison; and guilty of negligent homicide, which has a sentence of up to five years in prison. The jury of seven women and five men heard from 17 witnesses over three days. The defense rested Friday afternoon, and court resumed Monday at 9 a.m. with a motion for a mistrial, which Liljeberg denied. After closing arguments from both sides, Liljeberg instructed the jury before deliberations began. After nine hours of deliberations Monday, the jury was sequestered in a West Bank motel before resuming deliberations this morning. Miller had previously been convicted of second-degree murder in the Thomas shooting, but that conviction was thrown out, leading to the retrial. In May, he pleaded no contest to two counts of attempted second-degree murder in a Baton Rouge case under a plea deal.