Judge’s ruling puts defense ‘back in the saddle’ on YNW Melly murder case

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Defense lawyers in the YNW Melly murder case are getting back to work, at least behind the scenes, though it will still be months before a second jury hears the bloody details.

Broward Circuit Judge John J. Murphy issued a ruling this week allowing background work, such as sworn witness interviews, to continue while key issues are considered by the Fourth District Court of Appeal.

Most criminal cases are put on hold while critical questions are under appeal, and Melly’s case has both sides challenging Murphy’s decisions. Murphy rejected a defense request to lift the stay entirely, which would have allowed full-blown hearings to resume with major questions left unanswered.

Prosecutors want the appeals court to allow them to introduce a 20-minute documentary produced by Melly, whose real name is Jamell Demons, 25. The video contains a title card near the end that reads “Four days after the completion of this film, YNW Melly and his friends were the targets of a drive-by shooting in Miami, Florida.”

The Oct. 26, 2018, shooting actually took place in Miramar, and Melly’s defense denies that he was with his friends when it happened. Prosecutors say fellow rappers Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams were already dead when Melly and Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry got out of Henry’s Jeep and fired into the vehicle from the outside to make it look like a drive-by.

Defense lawyers are asking the same court to disqualify the Broward State Attorney’s Office from prosecuting the case because two of its employees are likely to end up on the witness stand.

One, prosecutor Michele Boutros, accused the lead investigator on the case of expressing a willingness to lie about executing a search warrant to seize a phone belonging to Melly’s mother in 2022.

There was no evidence that the lead investigator actually did lie, but the allegation led to conflicting court filings attempting to explain what actually did take place. When the dust settled, Murphy removed lead prosecutor Kristine Bradley from the case because the defense planned to call her as a witness to accuse the State Attorney’s Office of misconduct.

The judge ruled there was no cover-up by the prosecutor’s office, and a new prosecution team was assigned.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal has yet to hear arguments for any of the issues that are being raised, and it routinely takes weeks or months to issue a decision. Once that happens, the speedy-trial clock resumes and jury selection has to begin within 90 days.

For now, defense lawyers say they are pleased that they can continue interviewing witnesses even if they can’t make progress in front of the judge.

“We’re back in the saddle again,” said defense lawyer Jamie Benjamin, part of Melly’s legal team.

Melly was originally tried last summer, but the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial.