YNW Melly Lawyers Seek To Limit Lead Detective’s Testimony In Murder Retrial

YNW Melly

Jury selection for YNW Melly’s retrial is scheduled to begin on October 9. His first trial ended with a hung jury.

YNW Melly’s lawyers filed two motions to exclude some of Detective Mark Moretti’s testimony from the rapper’s upcoming retrial on Thursday (October 5). According to court documents obtained by AllHipHop, the defense urged a judge to not let Detective Moretti present information from an Apple health pedometer, CellHawk call data record mapping and Google Maps.

“The proposed expert testimony of Detective Moretti’s exhibits and reports should be excluded under Florida Rules of Evidence 90.702 and 90.403 because the methodology in the reports and/or testimony is unreliable, irrelevant and its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice,” the lawyers argued.

Defense attorneys filed the motions ahead of their client’s next court date, which is scheduled for Friday (October 6). YNW Melly’s legal team previously asked Judge John Murphy to recuse the Broward County State Attorney’s Office from the 24-year-old artist’s double murder case.

The defense claimed prosecutors withheld evidence to protect Detective Moretti as a witness in YNW Melly’s first trial. Jury selection for the retrial is set to begin on October 9.

Earlier this week, YNW Melly was charged with witness tampering. His lawyers said prosecutors were trying to distract the public after facing allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.

YNW Melly, whose real name is Jamell Demons, has remained in jail since his 2019 arrest. He is accused of killing his friends YNW Juvy and YNW Sakchaser in 2018.