A juror on the YNW Melly trial is speaking out about their deliberations on whether the Florida rapper was guilty or innocent.
After 19 days of hearing arguments and two days of deliberation, the Broward County judge presiding over rapper YNW Melly’s double murder trial declared a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision.
Now we’re learning more about what those discussions were about.
According to a person who served on YNW Melly’s jury, the majority of the jury members were in favor of convicting Melly, but one woman was determined to acquit him. According to the juror, the woman was to blame for the mistrial and had issues since day one.
From day one, she had issues with the foreperson selected, at one point crossing her arms and saying she was ‘Done!’, the former juror said. When another juror asked to not shut down and set her feelings aside, she exploded … She was explosive, manipulative, she was rude, she yelled insults at anyone who had a different opinion.
The former juror said the woman “was there to cause chaos.”
Potential jurors were asked during jury selection if they could be fair and impartial. The woman mentioned a previous run-in with the legal system due to family issues. She told the court, however, that it would not affect her ability to serve as a juror.
According to the former juror, on the final day of deliberations, the woman pulled two other jurors aside and tried to persuade them to vote to acquit Melly.
Then, she came over and announced to the group that they had changed their minds, but when another juror asked why she was speaking for them, she exploded, the former juror said, adding that the woman then hurled insults — including gay slurs — at the man who questioned her.
The former juror claimed that they made the decision to speak out after Melly’s mother, Jamie Demons-King, lied and claimed that the jury was split (9-3 in favor of an acquittal), when in fact, the juror claimed that nine of them wanted to convict Melly.
That’s just not true. I don’t want someone out there changing my vote,” the former juror said. You tell a lie enough and it becomes the truth.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for August 4. The defense team for Demons and prosecutors agreed to begin jury selection for the second trial on October 2.
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