YNW Melly trial ends in mistrial
YNW Melly trial ends in mistrial
After several more hours of deliberations on Saturday, the jury was unable to reach a verdict and the Court declared a mistrial. A status conference is set for next Friday to discuss next steps.
Saturday, the jury continued deliberations for several hours. Around 3:00 p.m., after more than 14 hours of jury deliberations, YNW Melly (born Jamell Demons) was brought back into the courtroom after the Judge received a message from the jury. This is around 5:36:00 in the video below, provided by Law & Crime.
Shortly after, around 5:42:00 in the video, proceedings resumed, the Judge brought the jury back into the courtroom. The Judge read the jury’s message aloud, which indicated that the jury remained unable to reach a unanimous verdict. At that time, the Court declared a mistrial, thanked the jury, and excused the jury.
What’s next?
Under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191(m) provides that a new trial shall occur within 90 days of today:
A person who is to be tried again . . . shall be brought to trial within 90 days from the date of declaration of a mistrial by the trial court . . . . If a defendant is not brought to trial within the prescribed time periods, the defendant shall be entitled to the appropriate remedy as set forth in subdivision (p).
After the jury was excused, counsel for both sides discussed how to address moving forward. This is around 5:45:00 in the video above.
Counsel for YNW Melly asked for a status conference next week. The State did not object. The Court set a status conference for next Friday.
After some discussion with his attorneys, YNW Melly was taken back into custody by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office (around 5:49:55 in the video).