The YNW Melly trial has undergone a short sabbatical as jurors in the double murder trial have been dismissed for a week.
However, experts close to the case suggest that the trial could last for at least another month since the prosecution still has plenty of evidence to present on its side.
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That’s according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, which has been boots on the ground at the Broward County courthouse where the trial has been taking place since it all began.
While the outlet didn’t confirm exactly why the jurors have been dismissed for a week, prior speculation from the Law & Crime Network suggested that the sheer volume of evidence presented by the prosecution — which has been replete with legal jargon and technical evidence — had “drowned” the jury.
The trial is expected to resume on July 10.
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Meanwhile, Local10.com reported that YNW Melly’s lawyers implicated YNW Bortlen, another member of the YNW collective, in the murders on Wednesday (July 5).
Though Bortlen (real name Cortlen Henry) is set to stand trial beginning on October 2, he is being tried separately from his estranged friend, and does not face the death penalty for his role in the murders of YNW Juvie and YNW Sakchaser.
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“Henry shows up at Memorial Hospital Miramar,” said attorney David Howard in his opening statement. “You don’t see him sitting there, but where you will see him is on the driver’s seat. When [Henry] shows up, he shows up with a change of clothing, change of shirt, powder residue on his hands, evidence in that he has discharged a firearm, and he lies. He lies about where the incident occurred, he lies about how it occurred, and he lies about not having a phone.”
Prior to this, YNW Melly’s defense team suffered a huge setback when a detective for the prosecution revealed that their research concluded that Juvie and Sakchaser were not killed in a drive-by shooting, as Melly and Bortlen have maintained.
During the ongoing trial last month, crime scene detective Sgt. Christopher Williams — who was called to the witness stand by the prosecution — determined that the fatal bullets that killed the YNW members came from inside the car that they were riding in at the time of their death; not outside.
“The shooting happened from somebody inside the car,” Williams said as he recreated the crime scene for the jury. He added “the angles” of the projectiles going into the victims’ bodies “do not change,” and that he likely missed these details the first time around because he had been testing the scene for a drive-by.
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Sgt. Williams went on to say that Juvy (real name Christopher Thomas Jr.) was shot in the head at close range from the left in the “middle of his cheek” while he was facing forward.
“Part of the wound had an abrasion ring on it,” he said of the entrance wound, citing the “tattoo of the stippling” as evidence.
YNW Melly was arrested and charged with two counts of premeditated murder in 2019 and faces life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. If convicted, he could get the death penalty.
