Prosecutors in the Jamell “YNW Melly” Demons double murder case want Broward Circuit Judge John J. Murphy to hide the names of jurors from the public, at least temporarily, for his upcoming retrial.
Some of the names and physical descriptions of jurors at Demons’ first trial were found in a notebook recovered Oct. 2 in the Miami home of Cortlen Henry, Demons’ co-defendant, who has been charged with murder, accessory after the fact and witness tampering. The first trial ended with a hung jury, and a retrial is imminent.
“There is evidence that suggests potential or seated jurors in the upcoming jury trial will be subjected to improper outside influences or harassment,” prosecutor Kristine Bradley wrote in her motion to identify jurors by number rather than name.
Bradley also cited a Sept. 26 letter purportedly written by a juror in the first trial, whose identity was concealed.
“Due to the fact that Mr. Demons is somehow related to the so-called ‘gang’ activity, you are brave to go forward a second time around,” the letter writer said, cryptically omitting the last two letters of the word “gang.”
The letter appeared to be written by one of the majority of jurors who voted 9-3 in favor of convicting Demons of the October 2018 murders of his friends and fellow rappers Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams. The letter advises Bradley to downplay the gang angle and focus instead on ballistics, evidence that demonstrates Thomas and Williams were shot by someone sitting with them in the Jeep Henry was driving that morning after a late-night recording session.
Prosecutors and investigators point to surveillance video showing Demons as the fourth passenger in the Jeep.
Demons’ retrial was supposed to get underway with jury selection this week, but first the judge has to decide whether the prosecutor’s office will be allowed to remain on the case. The defense has accused the prosecutors of lying to conceal a detective’s alleged willingness to lie while gathering evidence against Demons and his mother, Jamie King. Had defense lawyers known about the allegation, they would have used it to discredit the detective during Demons’ first trial.
If Murphy concludes the prosecutors engaged in illegal misconduct by withholding the allegation, he could remove the Broward State Attorney’s Office from the case or even dismiss it entirely.
Hearings on the issue are scheduled for this week, though one was postponed Tuesday because a defense lawyer fell ill.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.