RAPPERY YOUNG JEEZY SEES WEAPON CHARGE DISMISSED

A felony weapons charge against platinum-selling rapper Young Jeezy has been dismissed after a prosecutor said there wasn't enough evidence to support the case.

Orange County Deputy District Attorney Renee Jones sought the dismissal during a court hearing Thursday (11 DEC. 2014) but declined to elaborate on what new information led to it.

Jeezy, whose real name is Jay Wayne Jenkins, and five others were arrested in August after authorities served a search warrant at the Verizon Amphitheatre in Irvine and found an AK-47.

Police were investigating the death of a man who was shot backstage at a concert Jeezy co-headlined with Wiz Khalifa days earlier at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View. Jeezy and the other five, who included a tour bus driver and his wife, were never identified as suspects in the killing.

Jeezy and the others each pleaded not guilty to a single count of felony possession of an assault weapon.

The rapper did not attend Thursday's hearing but attacked his arrest and the filing of charges. "I pray this had nothing to do with race, but it definitely had nothing to do with evidence," Jeezy wrote.

He criticized what he called a rush to judgment by the media and police.

"I'm relieved that the truth has ultimately prevailed, and I would like to thank those who have always stood by me including my family and fans," Jeezy wrote.

Jones said the investigation into the shooting death of Eric Johnson, 38, is ongoing.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert C. Gannon granted the dismissal and said he would sign orders allowing Jeezy and his entourage to regain their passports and other property seized from them.

Jeezy's attorney Blair Berk said she was pleased the case was dropped but said the rapper should not have been arrested or charged.

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Celebrity Footage

Los Angeles, Calif. - 8 February 2009

1.Young Jeezy on red carpet at 2009 Grammy Awards

Def Jam Recordings

2. Music video clip- 'Put On' Young Jeezy

AP Entertainment

New York, 25 August 2008

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Young Jeezy, Recording Artist on his new album 'The Recession':

"I think I came up with the name 'The Recession' like mid-stream into the album because when I looked at a lot of the songs I had like 'My President' and 'Crazy World,' I was just like maybe I'm paying too much attention to what's going on. And I didn't want my music to come out in a depressed, negative way. So I just kind of looked at what I had and I was like the rest of the songs I'm going to do are going to be those 'we shall overcome' like anthems; that were always made, but were more street. But now I want to make them for everybody; you don't even have to be from the street to know where I am coming from, even though that's what the music is intended for, I just want to put it into terms that everybody can get it."

Def Jam Recordings

4. Music video clip- 'Put On' Young Jeezy

SHOTLIST

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AP Entertainment

Los Angeles, 18 June 2007

1. Author Donna Ann Smith-Marshall walking down hallway

AP Entertainment

Los Angeles, recent

2. Paris Hilton posing for photos at MTV Movie Awards

Pool Video

3. Woman (NOT Paris Hilton) entering Lynwood-facility cell, with door closing

AP Entertainment

Los Angeles, 18 June 2007

4. Book jacket: "Time on the Inside:

5. Close-up book jacket: "Time on the Inside"

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Donna Ann Smith-Marshall/Author:

"My story coming up (is about me, I was) a young mother, I had three children by the time I was 25, I didn't listen to my parents, I moved out struggling, I started writing bad cheques, falsifying financial statements, I didn't make it right and I was sentenced to a year county time. I didn't show up and I was expecting my third daughter when they caught up with me and they sentenced me to the time they had suspended, which was prison time. So, I went to prison for two and a half years."

Pool Video

7. Shot of cot in Lynwood cell

8. Shot of sink in Lynwood cell, with pan down to toilet

AP Entertainment

Los Angeles, 18 June 2007

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Donna Ann Smith-Marshall/Author, on why Hilton's incarceration is no laughing matter:

"It is absolutely serious and I believe, definitely, for Paris Hilton and the socialite that she is, coming from that background, it is definitely a shock, it's a depression. I came from a middle class background and it was a shocker for me. So when you're Paris Hilton and you're used to hanging around with Nicole Richie and that group of people, you are now with people who have committed all kinds of crimes- prostitution, petty theft, of course forgery, you have people in there that are waiting to go to prison for murder. Yes, it is definitely hard. She is in a place where she is by herself, so she is isolated, she's not in GP (General Population), so, definitely being inclosed in that type of place for 23 hours a day and you are just there, in a small cell, with walls, no windows. I can definitely imagine the depression that she is going through. It's hard."

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Los Angeles, recent

10. Hilton surrendering, driven into Twin Towers facility

AP Entertainment

Los Angeles, recent

11. Wide Twin Towers facility

12. Sign: Twin Towers facility

13. Pan Twin Towers facility

Pool Video

14. Pan lobby of Lynwood facility

15. Sign: Inmate Visiting (Lynwood)

16. Stairway to Inmate Visiting (Lynwood)

AP Entertainment

Los Angeles, 18 June 2007

17. SOUNDBITE (English) Donna Ann Smith-Marshall/Author, on why Lynwood is a much better place for Hilton than the Twin Towers:

"It's definitely better than Twin Towers, I can tell you that. She definitely wanted to get out of Twin Towers because that is the big jail and of course there are two sides there- there are the men's and the women's and of course there is the psych ward. Over at Lynwood it's more quiet, it's more confined, you have women there that are doing their time. Normally if they have a year, they are doing six months, but again she is isolated, she not in general population, so she's not having an opportunity to meet anybody. She is literally not in a dorm setting or anything, she is in a cell, a small cell by herself."

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

18. Hilton mug shot

AP Entertainment

Los Angeles, 18 June 2007

17. SOUNDBITE (English) Donna Ann Smith-Marshall/Author, on what Hilton should do with her last days in jail

"If I were Paris Hilton I would absolutely get out and talk to some of the women, find out why they are there, talk to them about their backgrounds, take a look at the conditions in the jail, talk to the officers, really take a look around and see what the women do on a daily basis and what changes need to occur."

AP Entertainment

Los Angeles, recent

18. Hilton on red carpet at MTV Movie Awards

AP Entertainment

Los Angeles, recent

19. Pan up on Hilton's West Hollywood mansion

AP Entertainment

Los Angeles, 18 June 2007

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Donna Ann Smith-Marshall/Author, on why Hilton's life on the outside will never be the same:

"All the jokes saying the socialite will go back to her mansion... You just don't recognise people who've never been in the system, the emotional stress that it puts on you, when you are in that quiet moment, or even when you are with people, sometimes you just go through flash backs. It could be just a gloomy day, you just don't know and so she is going to go through some changes, but again, what I would do if I were Paris is I would get involved, I would see where I could help."

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21. Opening-title excerpt: "The Simple Life"

EX-CON ADVICE FOR HILTON

Donna Ann Smith-Marshall isn't a debutante, or a party girl, but she has something else in common with Paris Hilton, who is serving jail time for a probation violation, she also knows what life is like inside a jail cell.

"Time on the Inside" is the title of Smith-Marshall's 2006 book, which is an insider's view of the California Department of Corrections. Smith-Marshall is a prison-reform advocate.

In an interview on Tuesday Smith-Marshall told AP that as a young mother of three children, she got into serious debt, and turned to falsifying financial statements and forgery. She was convicted, and in 1993 began serving two-and-a-half years in a maximum-security women's prison.

"I had three children by the time I was 25, I didn't listen to my parents, I moved out struggling, I started writing bad cheques, falsifying financial statements, I didn't make it right and I was sentenced to a year county time. I didn't show up and I was expecting my third daughter when they caught up with me and they sentenced me to the time they had suspended, which was prison time. So, I went to prison for two and a half years," she explained.

Even though Hilton is only serving about a fraction of the time she served, Smith-Marshall says that her plight is no laughing matter. It's still serious business, perhaps even more so given Hilton's wealthy upbringing.

"You have people in there that are waiting to go to prison for murder. Yes, it is definitely hard. She is in a place where she is by herself, so she is isolated, she's not in GP (General Population), so, definitely being inclosed in that type of place for 23 hours a day and you are just there, in a small cell, with walls, no windows. I can definitely imagine the depression that she is going through. It's hard," she said.

As uncomfortable and and lonely as Hilton likely is in the Lynwood facility in which she's now jailed, Smith-Marshall said Hilton's current digs are light years ahead of the Twin Towers facility, where Hilton stayed briefly after she returned from her short stint under house arrest.

Hilton is expected to be released Monday, 25 June. In the interim, Smith-Marshall recommends Hilton seize the opportunities of her situation, and try to learn about the lives of her fellow inmates.

Hilton may be back on the red carpet soon, and returning to the luxury of her Hollywood mansion, but Smith-Marshall said Hilton's jail experiences will change her life forever, hers will no longer be a 'Simple Life.'

"All the jokes saying the socialite will go back to her mansion... You just don't recognise people who've never been in the system, the emotional stress that it puts on you, when you are in that quiet moment, or even when you are with people, sometimes you just go through flash backs. It could be just a gloomy day, you just don't know and so she is going to go through some changes, but again, what I would do if I were Paris is I would get involved, I would see where I could help," Smith-Marshall advised.