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Report: C-Murder jury deliberation needs investigation, Louisiana NAACP president says __________________________________________________________

The president of the Louisiana NAACP has asked the state's top judge to investigate the conviction of rapper Corey "C-Murder" Miller, who is serving life in prison for killing a teenage fan in a Harvey nightclub.

Ernest Johnson, the state NAACP president, alleges irregularities in the jury that convicted Miller. He based the allegations on an interview with juror Mary Jacob that appeared Tuesday in The Times-Picayune.

"We need immediate intervention, " Johnson said during a news conference Thursday outside the state Supreme Court to announce a letter he sent this week to Chief Justice Catherine "Kitty" Kimball, seeking "a full investigation" into the jury's deliberation.

Kimball planned to respond in writing, but the letter would not be made public unless Johnson released it, Supreme Court spokeswoman Valerie Willard said.

Corey "C-Murder" Miller Miller, 38, has twice been convicted of second-degree murder in the Jan. 12, 2002, death of Steve Thomas, 16, at the now-closed Platinum Club.

A Jefferson Parish jury unanimously convicted Miller in 2003, but then-Judge Martha Sassone gave him a new trial. A second jury convicted Miller in the retrial on Aug. 11, but in a 10-2 vote.

Jacob, the juror who said she cast the deciding vote, said in the newspaper interview that she does not feel that prosecutors proved their case "beyond a reasonable doubt." But she said she voted once to convict Miller just to end deliberations because of the "brutal" pressure applied by some jurors on another juror who thought the rapper was innocent.

"We have some very serious allegations that's been raised, " Johnson said.

Judge Hans Liljeberg of the 24th Judicial District Court invalidated that verdict because Jacob wrote on a polling slip that she voted "under duress, to get the hell out of here." Liljeberg sent the jury back to deliberate, ordering them to ensure they voted how they felt.

About three hours later, the jury returned again with a 10-2 verdict, the legal minimum to convict Miller. Jacob said she voted guilty a second time after speaking with two other jurors.

"At that point I was ready to change my vote without it bothering me too much, " Jacob said.

But she said she regretted her decision a day later and decided to speak publicly about her experience. She did not find fault in Liljeberg, whom she called "very fair."

"I never felt like he was pressuring, " Jacob said. "I think he was doing his job."

Johnson said he has not attempted to speak with Jacob. "It's not our job to validate" the newspaper interview, he said.

Loyola University law professor Dane Ciolino said it would be "manifestly inappropriate" for the Supreme Court to intervene in Miller's case at this point.

"The matter needs to go through the normal appellate process and reach the Supreme Court in due course, " Ciolino said.

He added that under the state's code of evidence, Jacob could not testify in a hearing about the deliberation unless there were outside influences such as threats or a bribe. "So it's going to be very difficult for Corey Miller's lawyers to even use that information on appeal and post-conviction, " he said.

Johnson, who said the NAACP has been monitoring Miller's case, also asked Kimball to bar Liljeberg and the 24th Judicial District Court from Miller's post-conviction proceedings.

He did not explain why, but Miller in January accused Liljeberg of being "biased and prejudiced" and unsuccessfully tried to have the judge removed from the case. Liljeberg denied the accusations, and another judge ruled he could be fair.

Miller was sentenced Tuesday in Baton Rouge to 10 years in prison for his no-contest plea to two counts of attempted second-degree murder, for trying to shoot a nightclub owner and a bouncer in August 2001. The plea deal gives Miller credit for the time he has been jailed and in house arrest.

Johnson, who also asked Kimball to order Miller's release from prison on bond pending the outcome of an investigation, claimed the rapper has served his sentence in the Baton Rouge case. He conceded he did not know whether the state Department of Corrections has calculated Miller's sentence.

Johnson, a lawyer, said he is not representing Miller in the appeal. Miller's father, Percy Miller Sr., who attended the news conference, declined to comment.

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via:NOLA