Judge Explains Why C-Murder is Back on House Arrest

New Orleans Judge Martha Sassone says she ordered Corey "C-Murder" Miller back on house arrest after she saw him on TV attending the premier of Spike Lee's Hurricane Katrina documentary When the Levee's Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts on August 16. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Judge Sassone saw Miller on television being interviewed by a local news station on the same day that she had removed him from full house arrest and instituted a 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. curfew. Miller insisted that he was there to discuss a project with Spike Lee and was back home before 10 p.m. Sassone commented in court, "You're on home incarceration to prepare for a defense, not to have a social life."

On August 17, Assistant District Attorney David Wolff had asked the judge for permission to speak with the reporter who interviewed Miller, in order to determine how long he was present at the premier. Sassone originally barred him from talking to her, citing a gag order she had put in place, but ruled yesterday that Wolff could speak to the reporter as long as herself and Miller's attorneys were notified beforehand. Sassone also took the opportunity to deny a request from Miller's attorney to have him removed from house arrest altogether, as well as a request to allow him to exercise at a local park, commenting, "He probably needs to get a treadmill."