After five days of tense waiting, Roc-A-Fella CEO
Dame Dash breathed a sigh of relief when the attempted-murder trial of one of
his marquee artists, Beanie Sigel, came to a close in the rapper’s favor.
A jury could not reach a verdict regarding Bean’s
guilt or innocence and a mistrial was declared. The charges had Sigel facing
20-40 years behind bars.
Other supporters included Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kanye
West, members of State Property and others.
"We were all positive that the truth would
prevail," Dame Dash told AllHipHop.com. "The testimony [of the State]
had a lot of holes. There was no physical proof, it was just one person’s word
against another. There were a lot of inconsistencies in the statements and a
lot of lying going on."
Dash said that despite rumors of infighting,
Roc-A-Fella is supportive of their artists through their tribulations. Looking
forward, Dame is hoping Beanie’s next album, The B-Coming, will turn
his real life into more understanding about the rapper.
"He’s got a hot album, a hot single. I don’t
think his story’s really gotten tapped into. I don’t think that people realize
the struggle that he’s going through. [He’s had] shoot-outs with the cops, the
cops have shot at him. People should know that he was on trial and made a movie
[and] the movie [State Property 2] is about jail. He walked into a jail everyday
and acted. He still conducts his business even though there are all these things
going on around him," Dash said.
Continuing, the Roc mogul said, "People
don’t know how nice of a guy he is He is a family man. He’s a stand up guy.
He’s a real good dude and he’s there for you at all times. He only does us right."
When the verdict was read, Sigel, dressed in
a dark blue blazer, white shirt, gray tie and black fedora hit, broke out cigars
with his brother Dujuan and Dash, all ecstatic about the favorable decision.
Still, Sigel is not in the clear yet. The presiding
judge, Judge Karen Shreeves-Johns, will preside over a possible retrial.
She scheduled a status hearing for May 26, at
which point a new trial date may be set.
Next, Sigel faces a July 8 sentence in federal
court on gun and drug possession charges, to which he pleaded guilty in April.
Sigel faces a maximum of 11 years, but is expected
to only receive a third of that time.