YNW Melly‘s double murder retrial has once again been pushed back, and there seems to be no clear plans for a new start date.
According to court documents obtained by HipHopDX, the “Murder on My Mind” rapper appeared in a Broward County court on Friday (January 12) for a defense motions’ hearing to dismiss the case, against which the prosecution naturally filed its objections.
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Within these same documents, it was revealed that jury selection for the case will now not begin until March, which is when the trial was last rescheduled to. As of this writing, there is no clear start date for the retrial to begin, as the trial cannot start until the jury selection process is complete.
Check out the documents below.
It’s anticipated that the defense will conduct their necessary interviews and depositions with various witnesses during this delay.
During YNW Melly’s court appearance last month, Judge John Murphy granted the “Murder on My Mind” rapper’s request for a continuance. In that continuance, the team waived YNW Melly’s right to a speedy trial — which means that they aren’t required to get started in the 180-day statutory requirement in the state of Florida.
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Prosecutors have also entered more than 55 songs into evidence, with the intent to use the lyrics to such songs as “Murder on My Mind” against the rapper when the jury trial finally commences.
Melly’s attorney Raven Liberty has attempted to block the rapper’s lyrics from being used as evidence in his retrial.
“To receive something this late in the game is just part and parcel of what they’ve been doing the entire time,” Liberty said, adding that the state attorney’s office had assured Demons’ defense team three years ago that lyrics would not be used against him.
In October, Melly, his co-defendant YNW Bortlen, and a third person, Terrence Mathis, were charged with directing the activities of a criminal gang and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, as well as solicitation and conspiracy to commit tampering.
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These are in addition to the original count of tampering with a witness in a capital felony that Melly (real name Jamell Demons) and Bortlen (real name Cortlen Henry) have been previously charged with.
YNW Melly is accused of conspiring with YNW Bortlen in October 2018 to kill their two friends, YNW Juvy (Christopher Thomas Jr.) and YNW Sakchaser (Anthony Williams), and stage their deaths as a drive-by shooting.
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If YNW Melly is convicted, he could face the death penalty.
