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YNW Melly's legal soap opera recently took a turn for the worse.
According to a report Billboard published on Thursday, November 10, an appeals court in Florida overturned Judge Andrew Siegel's previous decision to prohibit prosecutors from requesting the death penalty for the "Murder On My Mind" rapper. Judge Siegel made his ruling back in July after he determined that the prosecution broke state protocol by not giving Melly and his legal team amble notice that they intended to seek the death penalty. Yet, a ruling made in Florida's District Court of Appeal highlighted that prosecutors gave notice when they first charged the rapper with double murder in 2019.
"Notice is notice," Judge Spencer D. Levine wrote for the appeals court. “Clearly, in the present case, the defendant was noticed and apprised of the state seeking the death penalty in 2019. The defendant has had nearly three years to start the preparation of his defense to the state seeking the death penalty [and] the record contains no evidence that the defendant was prejudiced in any way.”
The ruling means that Melly could face the death penalty if he's convicted. The rapper was supposed to face trial earlier this year but the trial was delayed due to the death penalty debate with no intended date in sight. Melly was charged for the murders of his former associates Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas Jr. and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams. Police believe he and his other associate Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry allegedly shot their two friends in October 2018 and dumped their bodies off at a local hospital. Both of them reportedly claimed they died in a drive-by shooting.