Rapper C-Murder's house arrest reinstated

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NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- A New Orleans judge has ordered rapper Corey "C-Murder" Miller back under house arrest while awaiting a murder retrial.

The Times-Picayune said Judge Martha Sassone ordered the "TRU Dawgs" rapper under house arrest after a federal appeals court panel ruled Tuesday that her July decision to release Miller was improper.

Sassone removed Miller from house arrest as prosecutors argued he should be sent back to prison. The U.S. appeals court ruled that the release "was unsolicited and entered without prior notice to the state to prepare a defense" even though she had not abused her discretion.

Miller was convicted in 2003 by a Jefferson Parish jury of murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Steve Thomas in 2002, the Times-Picayune said.

Sassone later granted Miller a new trial on a second-degree murder charge, and when the state Supreme Court agreed with her decision, she released him under house arrest on a $500,000 bond in March.