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YNW Melly’s high-profile case has been declared a mistrial after the jury was not able to make a decision on whether the rapper was guilty or not. The Murder on My Mind rapper was facing two first-degree murder charges, for which he pleaded not guilty.
"Our system doesn't work without getting people from the community to come in here and listen to the facts of the case and make these types of decisions. They are hard decisions. We appreciate you gave us the time," Circuit Court Judge John Murphy III said when he announced the mistrial.
The mistrial was declared after the jury members asked to have a look at the evidence and the testimonies for the second time. Upon the Judge’s question about the outcome, since the jury was not able to reach a unanimous decision, it asked for the Judge’s permission to have a look at the evidence again.
However, as the jury was still unable to decide, the case was declared a mistrial. Now that the case has been declared a mistrial, the ball is in the court of the prosecution, as they now need to decide if they want to pursue a new trial.
By law, they would now be given a time frame of 90 days to come back with a new double murder trial against the rapper.
On the other hand, if the prosecution fails to bring up a new trial within 90 days, the charges against YNW Melly will be dismissed.
YNW Melly was charged and accused of murdering his friends, YNW Juvy and YNW SakChaser, in October 2018.
Defense and prosecution presented their closing arguments during YNW Melly's trial
The closing arguments in the YNW Melly case began on Thursday, July 20, 2023. The trial was conducted with 12 jurors, out of which five were men and the other seven were women.
On the same day, both the defense and prosecution shared their final verdicts, where the defense stated that there was no genuine and true evidence to prove that YNW Melly was guilty.
Furthermore, the defense also accused lead Detective Mark Moretti of threatening the witnesses. On the other hand, the prosecution rested their case by talking about several pieces of evidence, like the DNA, the rapper’s phone records, and even YNW Juvy and YNW SakChaser’s autopsy results.
Furthermore, the prosecutors also showed surveillance video footage, where both the victims were seen alive when they got into the jeep. Moreover, as the prosecutors showed the rapper’s mobile records, the defense argued that the same was not adequately verified.
As a result, the jury members failed to come to a decision.
The Judge, in the case of the Two Face rapper, then brought up the decision of the mistrial after both parties were finished with their last verdicts. However, before announcing his decision, he stated how if the jury finds YNW Melly guilty, YNW Melly would be given the death penalty, or life in prison, without the possibility of parole.
For now, it is yet to know the plan of action of the prosecutors as they have just 90 days to come up with a new trial. At the moment, neither Melly, nor his representatives have addressed the matter and spoken about the events take took place.
