Jump to content
JJFP reunite for 50 years of Hip Hop December 10 ×
Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince Forum

Cassidy Found Guilty Of Manslaughter and Assault


bigted

Recommended Posts

Cassidy Found Guilty Of Manslaughter and Assault Charges

By Nolan Strong

Date: 1/25/2006 5:05 pm

Barry “Cassidy” Reese was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault Tuesday and was sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in prison.

The rapper could possibly be out of jail in a few months because of time already served in prison. The rapper has been incarcerated since June.

At the non-jury trial, Common Pleas Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan said that rapper was negligent in providing guns to assailants that eventually killed Desmond Hawkins, a 22-year-old Philadelphia man.

"You could be a leader in the community," Greenspan said according to the Associated Press. "All those guns - that's why Desmond is gone now, because of all those guns."

In court, the rapper expressed remorse for the crime. "It's a tragic situation for me too. I didn't set up for this to happen. Desmond Hawkins was my friend ... one of my closest friends,” he told the judge.

The murder trial of Philadelphia rapper Cassidy started on Monday Jan. 24, were the rapper was accused of first-degree murder in relation to an April 2005 slaying.

In June, Cassidy was arrested and charged with the murder of Hawkins. Cassidy surrendered to authorities in June of 2005, a week before the release of his sophomore album, I'ma Hustla.

Prosecutors claimed the rapper planned the murder by placing four of his associates in positions to attack his rivals.

His accusers concur Cassidy was more than prepared - as they said they discovered almost 80 unspent cartridges of various calibers in his home, near the shooting. Prosecutors claimed that Roberto Johnson, an associate of Hawkins, fought with one of Cassidy's associates earlier in the day in front of a Rite-Aid drug store.

Seeking retaliation for the altercation earlier in the day, Johnson testified the he, along with Hawkins, Daniel Irvin, 22, and 21-year-old Bobby Hoyle went to Cassidy's home.

Johnson testified he was not in the van because he was urinating in a nearby back yard. He heard the gunshots and ducked behind a car.

Ballistic evidence recovered at the scene found that 30 shots were fired at the van from an area near Cassidy's home, while 12 shots came from inside the van.

Johnson testified that he was unarmed and the he had seen only one gun in the van. He said he sold the weapon after the shooting.

Responding to the allegations, Cassidy's lawyer Fortunato Perri. Jr. suggested Johnson may have fired first as he was outside the van.

In July of 2005, prosecution witness Joseph Newkirk recanted his statements to police that he witnessed Cassidy firing a gun. In court on Monday, Newkirk alleged police detectives told him what to say.

In August, Cassidy's charge was reduced to a third-degree murder charge, but the decision was appealed to a higher court and the first-degree murder charge was reinstated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not really that big of a fan of his but if he puts out a good song I'll listen to it, hopefully he gets his life together... After all 2Pac raped a woman and I listen to his music, DMX gets in all sorts of troubles in the law and I listen to his music too, I'll buy his next album too if it's good music....

Edited by bigted
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh lawd...don't bring up the 2Pac thing. He didn't rape that girl. I've followed 2Pac's career since he came out. I've seen in depth interviews with his lawyer AND all those interviews from his friends in the documentaries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well you can't deny that Pac was sentenced to jail, whether or not he did or not you wouldn't know, you don't know if Cassidy did it either 'cause you weren't there, so stop hating on somebody, everybody and their lawyers deny that they do something, none of us are perfect...

Edited by bigted
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just to make this clear. It`s terrible to kill somebody, but be realistic.. It`s not like Tupac or Snoop or one of those Mc`s never killed a Dude...

And I think (If he actauly did it) Cassidy just shot to protect himself. If that realy would have been a Guy he wanted to die, Cas could have aranged without getting his hands dirrty..

Edited by Turntable
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah Slick Rick went to prison for shooting somebody but he did it 'cause the guy threathened to kill his wife I think, Cassidy probably did it out of defense too, I don't think he'd just wanna throw his life away and just shoot somebody for no reason, it's retarted though that Slick Rick went to jail for years and the guy never died but in this case the guy dies and Cassidy only gets a few months...

Edited by bigted
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's situations like this that gives a bad image for hip-hop!! :thumbdown: These artists need to stay out of trouble... Everybody still buys R. Kelly's albums even though he was caught on tape raping young girls so I don't think Cassidy'll lose fans either, controversey sells...

Edited by bigted
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah well, each month there is some kind of Rocker in bad trouble..

It's situations like this that gives a bad image for hip-hop!! :thumbdown: These artists need to stay out of trouble... Everybody still buys R. Kelly's albums even though he was caught on tape raping young girls so I don't think Cassidy'll lose fans either, controversey sells...

Kels wasnt raping them. He had sex with her. I man come on.. That was some kind of Groupie who reayl wantde to have sex with him..About 18 Years old? She probabyl lookde oolder too, with her hot pants and her R. Kells shirt,lol I realy dont see whats soo wrong with that... Over here that woulndt be such a major thing..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well it never stopped me from buying R. Kelly's music or being his fan, if it was something serious he'd be in jail anyway, besides his music is too great to front on listening to even if he did rape somebody who am I to judge? As long as he's staying out of trouble now and making music for me to listen to...It's like even with Kobe, you gotta give him his props for scoring 81 points even though he cheated on this wife, Cassidy ain't a music MVP yet though so I don't care much for him but if he put out something good I'd listen to him, James Brown's one of the greatest artists of all time but he has had a lot of trouble in the law too in his life but that don't mean I'm gonna stop listening to him...

Edited by bigted
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...