YNW Melly was back in court on September 15. While he was primarily facing a bond hearing, a claim from the prosecution has grabbed the majority of headlines. While debating a motion regarding Melly's cell phone, the protection petitioned Judge Murphy III to prevent the defense from taking custody of the phone. This, according to the prosecution, was due to the presence of child pornography on the phone. The images in question are allegedly images of Melly's girlfriend at the age of 17, with Melly being 18 at the time the pictures were taken. Melly, at the time of writing, is 24 years old. Under state and federal law, any nude or sexual images of a minor, regardless of age or relation to the possessor, are considered child pornography.
However, Melly's lawyers argued that it was disingenuous for the prosecution to retain possession of the phone because "There are thousands of pieces of data on the phone, not all of it is child pornography." With only scant footage of the hearing released, it's unknown how deeply the issue was discussed. Furthermore, Melly's lawyers were adamant that it not be referred to as "child porn" on camera due to it being Melly's girlfriend. The full statement from Melly's legal team was reported by Bryson "Boom" Paul. Despite this, Melly's legal team did not deny that she was underage at the time the photos were taken. Eventually, Judge Murphy III eventually chose to defer the bond decision till a later time. Additionally, jury selection from Melly's re-trial has been scheduled to begin on October 9.
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YNW Melly Re-Trial Set To Be Messy
With the introduction of a child pornography narrative, it's clear that the prosecution is holding nothing back during this re-trial. The State of Florida is eager to find Melly guilty after failing to overcome the doubts of the jury in his first trial. The notion that the prosecution will be more vicious this time around was also seen in several other pre-trial notions. Last month, the prosecution successfully petitioned John Murphy III to lower the threshold to give Melly the death sentence. If found guilty, the jury can vote for the death penalty with an 8-4 vote.
Meanwhile, the hearing also featured testimony from Leondra Phillips, the mother of YNW Juvy, one of Melly's alleged victims. Phillips, in no uncertain terms, spoke out against Melly receiving bond prior to his trial. “I don’t think he should receive a bond. I do know that he is innocent until proven guilty; however, these are some serious accusations against him. He has money… I don’t want anything to happen to me or my family. I don’t think he should receive a bond at all," she told the court via Zoom. HotNewHipHop will have all the latest updates leading up to and during Melly's re-trial next month.
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