YNW Melly’s road to retrial on double murder charges has been long and winding, but things appear to be moving in the right direction after the rapper’s attorneys reportedly got the judge to agree to resolve 20 motions that have been pending for months.
Judge YNW Melly agrees to handle defense motion
On October 15, NBC 6 South Florida reported an update on the slow-moving case. At a recent pretrial hearing, Mellie’s attorney Raven Liberty argued that her team had filed more than a dozen motions for a new trial but had not yet resolved them.
“I’ve tried multiple times to schedule close to 15-20 motions, but those motions are still pending. We couldn’t get the state to agree to any dates, and then your office told us not to contact them unless the state agreed to a date,” Liberty told the judge.
Prosecutors responded that they were having trouble discerning which motion was for which case and said they needed a list of all motions to ensure appropriate responses.
“I don’t think I’ve filed any motion beyond May,” Liberty added. “It’s October. They have time to respond.”
In response, the judge told both sides, “I’ll give you a date and then whatever motion the defense wants me to hear, just file a notice of hearing…Same statement, if you have anything you want me to hear Content, you can file a notice of hearing on the same date and time and say this is the motion you want me to hear and I will hear it.
XXL has contacted YNW Melly’s attorney for comment.
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YNW Melly awaiting retrial
Last July, his first trial ended in mistrial for the 2018 murders of friends Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams. The state is moving forward with a retrial of the South Florida rapper after his trial ended.
This time, Meili, formerly known as Jamel Devil, was also charged with witness tampering. His second trial was originally scheduled to begin on October 9, 2023. Melly’s latest trial date is set for September 10, 2025.