Showdown set for Friday in YNW Melly double-murder case. Will prosecutors be removed?
Lawyers for rapper Jamell “YNW Melly” Demons are due in court Friday morning to urge a judge to throw the Broward State Attorney’s Office off the case, and they’re relying largely on the testimony of a prosecutor to make their argument.
Assistant State Attorney Michelle Boutros could end up being a key witness Friday. Defense lawyers say she overheard Miramar Police Detective Mark Moretti, the lead investigator on Demons’ case, express a willingness to lie about his seizure of a phone belonging to Demons’ mother, Jamie King, during a Fort Lauderdale courthouse interview last October.
That was information that could have been used to discredit Moretti during Demons’ recent murder trial, which ended in July with a hung jury. But prosecutors never disclosed it to the defense. Now they’re being accused of prosecutorial misconduct.
The allegation surfaced because three months ago, Demons’ mother filed a complaint accusing Moretti of using excessive force when taking her phone. Miramar’s internal affairs unit reviewed the complaint and found in Moretti’s favor — Moretti took the phone forcibly to prevent King from turning it off.
Defense lawyers say Moretti had no right to take the phone because he was outside his jurisdiction. Had a deputy been in the room at the time, the seizure would have been legal, they say. But after King and her lawyer left the room, Moretti asked a deputy to pretend he was there all along, according to Boutros.
Prosecutors say the exchange was a joke between Moretti and the deputy — King’s own lawyer, Robert Trachman, was in the room at the time and did not raise any objection about jurisdiction. But Boutros took it seriously and reported it to her supervisor.
Whether prosecutors had an obligation to report the incident to the defense is legally questionable. Broward Circuit Judge John Murphy will listen to arguments about that issue on Friday.
Tensions between prosecutors and the defense in the Demons case have been escalating ever since a jury failed to reach a unanimous agreement in July on whether he killed two of his childhood friends, fellow rappers Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams and Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas.
A retrial is scheduled to begin this month.
Prosecutors have added a witness tampering charge against Demons and co-defendant Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry, who is accused of driving the Jeep where the murders took place after a late-night recording session in October 2018.
Investigators say Henry and Demons staged the crime scene to make it look like a drive-by shooting had taken place.
Both are accused of working together to persuade Demons’ girlfriend not to cooperate with investigators or prosecutors.
Defense lawyers say the tampering charges are an effort to distract from the allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.