Rapper Top5 freed after murder charge stayed

A Toronto rapper was released from custody on Monday after the Crown stayed a first-degree murder charge against him. Hassan Ali, known by his rap moniker Top 5, had been charged in the 2021 death of Hashim Omar Hashi, a 20-year-old accounting student. Hashi was gunned down while attempting to drive his vehicle into the parking garage of his apartment on Jan. 31, 2021, according to Toronto police. Two weeks later, Ali was arrested in California and charged. He had served three years in custody and was about to undergo trial when the decision was announced Monday in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Charges are stayed when a judge or the Crown decides it would be bad for the justice system for the case to continue, and the issue of guilt or innocence is never determined, according to the Community Legal Education of Ontario. The Crown has one year to reopen the case, and if the year passes, the charges can’t be brought back. The Crown suspended its case against Ali after the judge would not allow his videos or social media posts to be used as evidence in the trial. Prosecutors argued the shooting was gang-related and that Ali was behind the plot. Ali’s lawyer, Gary Grill, told reporters the evidence against his client was “entirely circumstantial.” CBC has reached out to Ontario's Attorney General's office, but has not yet heard back. Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news »»» Subscribe to CBC News to watch more videos: http://bit.ly/1RreYWS Connect with CBC News Online: For breaking news, video, audio and in-depth coverage: http://bit.ly/1Z0m6iX Follow CBC News on TikTok: https://bit.ly/3TnHioe Follow CBC News on Twitter: http://bit.ly/1sA5P9H Find CBC News on Facebook: http://bit.ly/1WjG36m Follow CBC News on Instagram: http://bit.ly/1Z0iE7O Subscribe to CBC News on Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3leaWsr Download the CBC News app for iOS: http://apple.co/25mpsUz Download the CBC News app for Android: http://bit.ly/1XxuozZ »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» For more than 80 years, CBC News has been the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.