The double murder trial of rapper YNW Melly, real name Jamell Maurice Demons, has been declared a mistrial by the judge after the jury was deadlocked and unable to return a verdict.
Demons had been accused of conspiring with fellow rapper Cortlen Malik Henry, also known as YNW Bortlen, to murder rappers Anthony D'Andre Williams (YNW Sakchaser) and Christopher Thomas Jr. (YNW Juvy) before attempting to pass it off as a drive-by shooting.
The two were killed in October 2018, and in 2019, Demons handed himself over to the police as he claimed he was attempting to clear his name.
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Prosecutors claimed the killings were part of a gang action and had been seeking the death penalty in the event of a guilty verdict, while the defense said that since Demons and the victims of the shooting were close friends the claim lacks credibility.
The prosecution also claims that Demons, Henry, Williams and Thomas were all in a jeep together in Florida on 26 October, 2018 following a recording session and that the accused fatally shot the two victims.
They have been attempting to argue that Demons shot the two men while inside the car before Henry drove the vehicle elsewhere and they shot it up to make it look as though the killings had been part of a drive-by shooting.
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However, prosecutors claim that ballistics tests show the two men were shot from inside the car.
The defense have argued that no murder weapon has ever been recovered and that Demons had no apparent motive for the killings.
Judge John Murphy has declared a mistrial in this case after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict following three days of deliberations.
The judge had twice asked the dozen jurors to keep deliberating after they reported their failure to reach a unanimous verdict, and accepted their inability to reach a result the third time.
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According to NBC News, prosecutors will most likely attempt to retry the rapper with a new trial.
During the trial, the judge also had an undercover cop give up their anonymity while giving expert testimony.
Detective Danny Polo had been brought into the trial as an expert witness on organised gang crime and had initially been allowed to wear a mask into court due to his undercover work.
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However, a juror raised concerns about this and sent the judge a note reading: “Why does he get to see us but we don’t get to see him?”
The defense also argued that the detective wearing the ski mask to court was unnecessary and after they found information identifying Polo's family online, the judge decided that the officer didn't need to wear the mask any more,
Joe Harker