Rapper Beanie Sigel
was acquitted of attempted-murder charges today in a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
court, after jurors spent two days deciding the rapper’s guilt or innocence.
The jury delivered their verdict today (Sept. 26) vindicating
Sigel of shooting Terrance Speller in front of a Philadelphia bar on July 1,
2003.
Damon Dash, CEO of Damon Dash Music Group, the label that released
Sigel’s latest album The B. Coming, was happy with the verdict.
“It’s a beautiful thing, he’s [Sigel] an honorable
dude,” Dash told AllHipHop.com from an undisclosed hotel room where he
was celebrating with Sigel and associates. “We wanted to keep it more
low profile this time. We had to keep it low and focus on the trial."
The need for secrecy was made clear at the beginning of Sigel’s
second trial, as the judge, Karen Shreeves-Johns issued a gag order on lawyers
and chose jurors in secrecy.
The jury based their decision on the testimony of David Aimes,
a close friend of Speller’s.
Both Aimes and Speller testified during the first trial that
they received daily threats against their lives.
In the first trial, Aimes testified he witnessed Sigel shoot
Speller. During the second trial, Aimes changed his story and claimed he couldn’t
remember what happened.
“I really don’t want to be involved in this case, because
I got to think about my own life," Aimes testified during the second trial.
Speller testified he instructed Aimes to corroborate his story
that they were robbed by unknown assailants out of fear.
“I wanted to make sure I was all right and my family would
be all right," Speller testified.
Speller then testified he witnessed Sigel point him out in a
crowd and then shot him twice.
However, Sigel’s lawyer Fortunato Perri Jr. pointed to
a number of inconsistencies in Aimes’ and Spellers testimony, from police
statements, to statements made during the first and second trials.
"Rather than identify the person who shot you, you tried
to make up a lie with your last dying breath that ‘they tried to rob us?’"
Perri asked Speller, who reiterated hit motive was based out of fear.
"All the evidence
was put out there and he was found not guilty, which is what he should have
been [found] in the first place,” Dash concluded.