Yesterday, Judge Marsha Neifield reduced Philadelphia rapper Cassidy's first-degree murder charge. Cass will now stand trial on a third-degree murder charge.

Authorities allege that on April 15th, Cassidy (aka Barry Reese) was one of several men who shot at three victims behind the rapper's home in a West Oak Lane neighborhood. Desmond Hawkins, 22, was killed and two more were injured in the incident. The victims claimed they had an earlier altercation with Cassidy and had went to his home to make peace.

Originally, Cass was charged with first-degree murder and faced the possibility of life in prison, if convicted. Judge Neifield concluded that prosecutors only had enough evidence to try Cassidy on charges that included third-degree murder, attempted murder, and weapon offenses.

Cassidy's attorney, Fortunato Perri, Jr. says, "Today, we were able to show at the preliminary hearing that the deceased and his friends were actually firing shots in the direction of Cassidy and the guys that he was with." Perri continued, "We established, through the ballistics evidence, that there were shots being fired both ways. So based on that, the judge concluded that there wasn't enough evidence for a first-degree murder case, but she held him on third-degree murder."

Neifeld set bail at $2.5 million, but ordered Cassidy to remain behind bars pending appeal. Cassidy only has to raise 10% of that amount for his release. Tuesday marked his 60th day in prison. The bail order was upheld to permit the prosecutor's office enough time to appeal the Judge's decision. September 5th has been set for the deadline for the appeal request, but Cassidy could be released as soon as next week. If convicted, Cassidy now faces a lesser sentence of 20-to-40 years in prison.

"Today was a win, and we expect to keep winning and we expect to win the case at trial," Perri said. "For the last 60 days, Cassidy has been anxious. He's frustrated. He wants to get back to work. He wants to be exonerated in this case and it's a process for him. He's upbeat and he's looking forward to getting back to work and seeing his fans again."

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....yep he's hustling da judge...hustler walk on his ass...

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"don't assume me Im not what you're used to"

Hes gona get out of it... im saying 2 years tops...

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The Council

the new testamin ft. anxiety (must see)

Bubba Bible Ft. Ajax[/SIZE]

Free Cassidy !!!!!!!!!

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"The victims claimed they had an earlier altercation with Cassidy and had went to his home to make peace."

WHO THE FUCK GETS INTO A BEEF N THEN GOES TO THERE CRIB TO MAKE PEASE...fuck outa here them niggaz went to his crib to start lettin off !
n idk if cass is gon get outa this 100%...i mean, HE IS A RAPPER !!!!!!!
not michael jackson...the system is look to lock this nigga up for LIFE !

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Damn Son.

He Just became my favourite Rapper aswell..

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^^word Cass is pretty cool...he'll get out but not without some shit going down, most likely soem bastards will kill him when he gets out so who knows

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When i vote on urs vote on mine
Me vs. Opt1k(topical..50/vote)
I do this to herbs>>

oh shut the fuck up cassidy isnt cool, oh what u think hes a hard ass now cause he cought a murder case? please, that kid got fucked up all the time before he made it big, always gettin robbed and beat on, its just now he has money and people will use him just to get the same luxurys and now he can afford to actually buy guns.

^^My goodness....is there any rapper you don't hate?And he got beat up?Like that probably hasn't happened to you?cuz you here all pissed at the rappers for no apperant reason.If killing someone doesn't make you look hard in your eyes..then what the fuck does.......n you sayin that just becuz he can afford guns he's "big"...boi...you got some problems.

Look man, I know who Barry "cassidy" is ok. His dad is a train conductor for septa, ive seen this dude back in 2001 get his ass beat senseless at fern rock train station, we know damn well he aint mr. hustula and never held guns before nor knew how to get them. and you thing about even killin someone dosent meke them hard? and pussy can shoot a gun, and lots of gun holders are pussies who carry then to keep off kids from beatin the shit outta them

you seen cassidy get beat up with your own eyes?LoL...umm.....OK.I don't see how his pops being a train conductur is relevant here.And He ain't no hustla...cuz he got beat up?gettin beat up doesn't deprive you of a hustla status.Husting is just gettin money any way possible..got's nutin to do with gettin jumped.And not any pussy can kill someone.It's a lot harder than it sounds n looks on TV.& no..a lot of gun holders don't carry guns for the sake of averting an ass-kicking.It's more of protect from someone else carrying a gun of their own.

yea i know all that, but still cassidys a bitch, i just dont like em, but know i dont hate all rappers then rapper in your sig is one of my all time favs, but not cassidy

ooh..well at least you got respect for rakim..props on that.But you can't deny cassidy's freestyling ability.LOL.

~1~