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South Florida rapper YNW Melly appeared in court Tuesday for a hearing for a motion brought forth by his defense.
YNW Melly’s, whose real name is Jamell Demons, is accused of shooting and killing his friends, Christopher Thomas Jr. and Anthony Williams, in 2018 in Miramar.
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WATCH HEREDuring the hearing, several motions were discussed by Melly's lead attorney, Ravon Liberty, and a state prosecutor, which included scheduling depositions and obtaining the victims' cellphone content.
"Mr. Demons has now been in custody for 2,202 days, and if one state attorney is not available, maybe one of the other two assigned to this case can stand in, and if all three are not available, maybe one of the 150 state attorneys upstairs might sit in," said Judge Martin S. Fein.
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Fein also urged prosecutors to move forward with the case.
"We are moving forward judge but the other issue has been is that Ms. Liberty must properly coordinate and must properly notice the state," a state attorney said.
Fein pushed back against the state's reasoning and said Liberty does not need to coordinate anything but must make a good-faith effort.
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The state responded by saying that she had asked for dates, they provided them but she schedules them outside of the proposed times.
Liberty claimed she had printed every email regarding dates.
Fein told the both of them to stop.
"In case I'm not making my feelings on this point clear, I'm not pre-judging anything but, talking to a judge about trying to agree to set depos in a death penalty case is absurd and I'm embarrassed for both sides, " the judge said.
Ultimately, the motion was denied.
Another motion that was discussed was for the defense to receive forensic images from Thomas Jr.'s and Williams' cellphone.
The state said that some contents of the cellphone were turned over to the defense while some content was not because they felt it was not relevant to the case.
"The state doesn't get to decide what's relevant and what's not relevant," Fein said. "He's a homicide victim? Just turn over everything you have."
Fein granted the defense's motion for the state to turn over all content in the victims' cellphones.
"Go over there and download everything that they have," he said.
Recently, Fein has gone back and forth with the rapper's defense attorneys over a Broward Sheriff's Office investigation into Liberty. Up until this point, the state has been tight-lipped about what the investigation entails.
On Feb. 9, Melly's ex-girlfriend, Mariah Hamilton, who is a key witness in his upcoming double murder retrial, hoped to convince a judge that she should be allowed out of jail after she violated a judge order to testify in Melly's first trial.
Fein ruled that she could leave jail, but would have to wear an ankle monitor.
Hamilton's next hearing is scheduled for Friday at 8:45.
His first trial ended in a mistrial in 2023, and his new trial has yet to begin.
Melly's next hearing is scheduled for April 1 and his trial is set for Sept. 10.
