Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance decided to uphold C-Murder's murder conviction in federal court, after two key witnesses recanted their testimonies. They had previously implicated the rapper, born Corey Miller, in the 2002 murder of 16-year-old Steve Thomas. He's currently serving a life sentence for allegedly carrying out the fatal shooting, but he's already filed an appeal.
“NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Petitioner, Corey Miller, appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from the District Court’s decision rendered on November 14, 2023, dismissing Petitioner’s Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. R. Doc. 14,” the appeal reads. “Additionally, Petitioner prays that this Court grant him a Certificate of Appealability.”
C-Murder Continues To Fight His Conviction
In Judge Vance's recent ruling, she claimed that C-Murder failed to “put forth clear and convincing evidence of error in the state courts’ findings of fact." This is far from the first time his appeal has been denied, however. He's been working to get his conviction thrown out, or to at least be granted another hearing, for the past 14 years. He was first convicted of the alleged murder in 2009. Kim Kardashian famously brought attention to his case earlier this year after working on it herself for years.
"Louisiana recently enacted a new law that provides innocent people with the ability to raise a post-conviction claim of factual innocence," she explained in August. "Mr. Miller has raised such a claim and, like all of his prior post-conviction filings, has been denied relief without even so much as an evidentiary hearing. In light of the fact that the only witnesses have completely recanted their testimony, there is absolutely no remaining evidence against Mr. Miller. Corey Miller deserves a day in court to test the veracity of the recanted statements and to prove that he did not shoot Steve Thomas." Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.