Rapper YNW Melly refused to appear in court on Tuesday for a status hearing regarding the scheduling of another motion pertaining to the conditions of his pretrial release, according to NBC Miami.
In the courtroom, the judge set April 30 as the date for which the rapper and his legal team will present their argument for getting out on bond. The move comes after prosecutors dropped several charges against him earlier this year.
The dropped charges include tampering with a witness, directing activities of a criminal gang, criminal solicitation to commit murder, and conspiracy to tamper with a witness on a capital felony. Authorities originally arrested Melly, whose real name is Jamell Demons, on double murder charges back in 2019, alleging that he killed YNW Juvy and YNW Sakchaser. The case resulted in a mistrial in 2023. The dropped charges pertained to allegations that Melly tried to convince a witness not to testify in the trial.
Melly’s attorneys, Drew Findling and Carol Haughwout, reacted to the state dropping the charges in a statement provided to XXL in January. “On behalf of Jamell Demons, we welcome the dismissal of the alleged tampering and gang-related charges in court this morning,” they wrote at the time. “As his newly retained legal team, it became immediately apparent to us that no crimes had occurred. Unfortunately, for 652 days while these charges were pending, the State did not reach the same conclusion until the cusp of trial.”
“We now look forward to seeking Mr. Demons’ release from custody, where he has been held under extraordinarily restrictive conditions for far too long based on premises the State has now abandoned,” the statement concluded.
Last month, Melly’s legal team filed their fourth attempt at getting Melly out of jail. In doing so, they cited the alleged “emergence of additional evidence.” They also claimed that he has “endured flagrantly restrictive, dehumanizing conditions in pretrial detention.”
As of now, Melly’s trial is scheduled to commence in January 2027. The rapper has remained in custody since his arrest in 2019, and his legal team continues to push for his release pending trial.
