State files more charges against YNW Melly as first phase of jury selection begins in double murder retrial

The State has filed additional charges against rapper YNW Melly, his co-defendant and a third person.

Melly notably appeared in plain clothes Wednesday morning as the first phase of jury selection began in the rapper's double murder retrial.

The charges are added to the recently filed tampering with a witness case. These include directing the activities of a criminal gang, unlawful use of a two-way communication device as well as solicitation and conspiracy to commit tampering.

The charges are filed against Jamell Demons (YNW Melly), Cortlen Henry -- who is also facing murder charges tied to the original case -- and Terrence Mathis.

Melly was back in a Broward courtroom Tuesday, days after a judge removed the lead prosecutor in the rapper's double murder retrial.

A hearing in the case began shortly after 9 a.m. and lasted for more than an hour, as prosecutors and defense attorneys argued over the start of the retrial.

The state asked the judge to delay the trial so the new prosecutor would have time to review, but the defense pushed for it to begin, arguing that the rapper has a right to a speedy trial.

Broward Circuit Judge John Murphy ultimately decided that they would go ahead with the first phase of jury selection beginning on Wednesday. That phase entails questioning potential jurors who may have scheduling or other issues.

Jury selection is expected to take several weeks.

Last week, Murphy granted the defense’s motion to recuse prosecutor Kristine Bradley in an abundance of caution after defense attorneys claimed prosecutors didn't reveal that the lead detective in the case had been previously accused of being willing to lie as he gathered evidence..

The judge didn't find that Bradley's integrity had been comprised but agreed that she couldn't serve as a prosecutor on the case if the defense was planning to call her as a witness regarding the credibility of one of the investigators.

Attorneys for Melly, whose legal name is Jamell Demons, had asked Murphy to remove the Broward State Attorney’s Office from the case and potentially dismiss the case entirely. The request came after Assistant State Attorney Michelle Boutros, who works for the Broward office, testified that she overheard the lead investigator in the case against Demons, Mark Moretti, ask a Broward County deputy to lie about being present when Moretti executed a search warrant outside his jurisdiction last October, forcibly seizing a phone from Demons' mother as part of a witness tampering investigation.

Defense attorney Jamie Benjamin said that information should have been turned over to the defense because they could have used it to discredit Moretti during Demons’ recent murder trial, which ended in July with a hung jury.

Prosecutors say the exchange between Moretti and the deputy was a joke, pointing to the fact that an attorney for Demons' mother was present when her phone was taken and would have known the deputy wasn't there.

Demons' first murder trial ended with a 9-3 vote for conviction.

Melly faces a possible death sentence if convicted of first-degree murder in the 2018 slayings of two childhood friends, Christopher "YNW Juvy" Thomas and Anthony "YNW Sakchaser" Williams. Their stage names all include "YNW" because they belonged to the same hip-hop collective. It stands for "Young New Wave" or another phrase that includes a racial slur.

Prosecutors say Melly, after a late-night recording session, shot Thomas and Williams inside an SUV and he and Cortlen "YNW Bortlen" Henry then tried to make it look like a drive-by shooting. The 24-year-old rapper remains jailed without bond. Melly’s biggest hit, "Murder on My Mind," reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2019.