YNW Melly’s retrial for double murder has been delayed yet again.
YNW Melly’s Retrial for Double Murder Postponed Again
According to a Miami Herald report, published on Saturday (Dec. 30), YNW Melly’s retrial for double murder has been pushed back at the request of the rapper’s defense team. On Dec. 20, Broward Circuit Court Judge John Murphy granted Melly’s legal counsel an extension in their preparation for their defense.
The retrial was originally scheduled to resume in February; however, court records indicate that Murphy has now scheduled a new trial date for March 5. The case is currently in the jury selection phase.
The newspaper reports the defense now has time to conduct over a dozen pending depositions before trial with state witnesses. Several depositions that were scheduled for late December and early January were canceled this week.
Last week, Judge Murphy partially granted 13 defense motions to exclude key evidence. He restricted the admission of digital evidence, including messages, to the day of and after the murders, according to the Miami Herald. Melly’s first trial included text messages from before the murders, including back-and-forth spats between Melly and his mother Jamie Demons-King.
A hearing has been scheduled in January where Judge Murphy will consider several pending motions.
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How many times has the YNW Melly Retrial Been Rescheduled?
This is the third time the retrial in YNW Melly’s double-murder case has been rescheduled. Initially, the new trial was set to start on Jan. 8, 2024 but it was postponed until February and now March 5 is the new date.
YNW Melly is scheduled to be tried again for the 2018 murders of his friends Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams after his first trial ended in a mistrial back in July of 2023.
Additionally, Melly and his co-defendant YNW Bortlen have been charged with new charges of witness tampering since his first trial. The State alleges that the men conspired to prevent Melly’s ex-girlfriend Mariah Hamilton from testifying in the first trial. Jamie King has been very vocal about her son’s innocence. After the first trial, she asserted that the majority of jurors voted to acquit the embattled rapper.
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Watch a news report on YNW Melly’s court appearance in November of 2023 below.
