YNW Melly‘s lawyer has moved for a mistrial in the rapper’s double murder trial that, if convicted, could leave the “Murder on My Mind” rapper facing the death penalty.
Local10.com reported that David Howard — one of the attorneys for the Florida native — moved for a mistrial in the case after Broward Circuit Judge John Murphy dismissed the testimony of Felicia Holmes, the mother of one of YNW Melly’s ex-girlfriends, who was declared a hostile witness for the prosecution.
AD LOADING...
“The state has ruined my life,” Holmes stated in her testimony on Thursday (June 15), while adding that she’d been “inundated” with threats from the state of Florida about prosecution and eventual imprisonment if she didn’t cooperate.
This prompted Howard to declare that there had been a “prejudicial fiasco” in court.
“This jury sat there and watched this fiasco unfold with at least 10, maybe 15 sidebars, after every two questions,” he said, while adding that the jury had been “tainted.”
AD LOADING...
The YNW Melly murder trial is set to reconvene on Tuesday (June 20), and it is believed that Judge Murphy will render his decision about the mistrial at that time.
If the trial does, indeed, go forward, there’s at least one person who thinks the rapper (real name Jamell Maurice Demons) can beat the case against him: attorney Bradford Cohen, best known for his defense of Kodak Black.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday (June 13), he said he believes the prosecution will have a tough time proving that Melly is guilty.
“Day 2 is coming up on the YNW Melly case,” he began. “The first few days of trial are not that interesting in regards to a story or the real meat of the case… This case is going to be very technical with phones and date etc.
“But again, they can’t say someone else didn’t get in the car or someone else did the shooting. I think the case has built in reasonable doubt, and I saw a lot of the discovery while I was on the case. Like i said, this will be a tough case for the prosecution.”
AD LOADING...
Prior to the second day of the trial, YNW Melly asked his fans and supporters to pray for him in a since-deleted Instagram post: “Go watch and support me during trial [light green heart] send a prayer for me [praying hands emoji][Earth emoji] Day 2.”
The “Murder on My Mind” hitmaker has been accused of killing two people in October 2018: YNW Juvy (Christopher Thomas Jr., 19) and YNW Sakchaser (Anthony Williams, 21).
