Shyne Wins Legal Victory, Portions Of Assets Unfrozen

A New York Judge has ruled in favor of releasing a portion of Shyne's assets that had been frozen under the "Son of Sam" law. Today (April 26), Judge David Vaughan granted a motion for release of $100,000 from the funds that are presently frozen under the "Son of Sam" NY Executive Law section 632-A. The money has been released to allow Shyne to pay for legal fees to so that he can be represented in a civil lawsuit arising out of the infamous shooting at Club New York. Shyne, Jamal Barrow, has gone without legal representation or access to his earnings as a recording artist since November 2004. Judge Vaughan also ordered Desimone, Aviles and Dershowitz, Eiger, two law firms that previously represented Shyne, to turn over their files on the case to Shyne's lawyer, Oscar Michelen, by May 3rd. "Today's ruling by the Court is a vindication of our position, of course, but more importantly I feel it is a vindication of a person's right to counsel," Michelen told AllHipHop.com in a statement. "While the Son of Sam Law services to reserve assets for crime victims the Court recognized that his important purpose of the law must yield in this instance to allow a person to have experienced counsel particularly in a serious lawsuit such as this." On April 19th, Shyne wrote and filed a motion to be produced to represent himself in the event that Judge Vaughan would not grant the motion for release of funds. In December 1999, Shyne was immortalized by a much-publicized legal skirmish that resulted in a stiff ten-year prison sentence and an acquittal for co-defendant Sean "Diddy" Combs. He was convicted of two counts of assault, reckless endangerment, and gun possession.