YNW Melly’s trial ended in a mistrial on Saturday after the jury remained in a deadlock after deliberating just over 14 hours.
A mistrial means that the State has 30 days to file for a new trial, and prosecutor Kristine Bradley has indicated that the State will not concede its case but will instead be preparing for a new trial.
YNW Melly smiled widely after being told that the jury couldn’t come up with a decision as to whether, based on the facts presented in court, he was innocent or guilty. The jurors seemed bent on their positions, and despite the judge asking them on Friday to return and further deliberate to come to a unanimous decision, all stuck to their original positions.
After the jury’s decision was communicated and Judge John Murphy III ended the proceedings, Melly’s lawyer Stuart Adelstein said he was disappointed with the outcome of the trial.
“Obviously we want to thank the jury for the great efforts that they’ve extended over this period of time but we are somewhat disappointed that Melly is not walking out the door with us,” Adelstein said.
David Howard added, “The jury did pay attention. We asked them to do a lot and they hung in there and gave it their best effort and it’s the most that we could ask of them.”
When asked about the plans to file a motion for bond for YNW Melly, who has been locked up since February 2019 as he awaited trial, Adelstein said they were not at liberty to discuss that as yet. The lawyers declined to discuss any next steps, although they smiled at each other.
The case ending in a mistrial means that Melly returns to jail and waits for the next trial while the families of the victims wait for justice. Among those who reacted to the trial ending was Christopher Thomas, also known as YNW Juvy’s mother posted an emotional message on Facebook.
“Lord I don’t know if I can’t take this. My son is dead for no reason,” she wrote.
YNW Melly was facing the death penalty, with the Death Qualified jury needing just eight of the 12 jurors to say the rapper was guilty.
