Law&Crime Sidebar - Dissecting YNW Melly’s Bizarre Behavior in Court During Double Murder Trial

Episode Date: June 19, 2023

Rapper YNW Melly, born Jamell Demons, has exhibited various bizarre behaviors while inside the courtroom during his double murder trial. Some of this behavior has angered families of the victims, Christopher Thomas Jr., aka YNW Juvy, and Anthony Williams, aka YNW Sakchaser, who Melly stands accused of killing. The Law&Crime Network’s Angenette Levy dissects Melly’s behavior and body language with Bernarda Villalona, a former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney.LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergWriting & Video Editing - Michael DeiningerGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa Bein & Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaDevil In The DormThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that

will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Apparent prayers and kisses blown into the air. YNW. Melly has been pretty expressive for the camera in the courtroom. What does it mean for him, if anything, we discuss. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy and welcome to Law and Crimes Sidebar Podcast. We are entering the second week of the double murder trial of Jamel Demons in Broward County, Florida. Demons, of course, is known by the stage name YNW. Melly. He's been going viral during his trial, not because of the evidence, but because of some of the things he's done in front of the camera.

Just a quick recap to bring you up to speed if you haven't been following the case. Demons is on trial accused of murdering two of his lifelong friends and YNW members. Anthony Williams, known as YNW Sack Chaser, and Chris Thomas, who's known as YNW Juvie. The two men were shot to death in the early morning hours of October 26, 2018, after four YNW members left a late night recording session in an SUV. The state says Melly is the trigger man that he pulled the trigger. The defense says the prosecution can't prove it. Mellie's co-conspirator, Cortland Henry, who went by YNW Bortland, was driving the SUV that

night and also faces charges in the murders. He will be tried separately at a later date. Now back to Melly's behavior in the courtroom. Joining me to discuss the behavior of YNW. Melly in the courtroom and in front of the camera is Bernardo Villalona. She is a frequent guest here on law and crime, also a defense attorney and former prosecutor. So she's been on both sides of the aisle. Thanks so much, Bernardo, for coming on. We appreciate it. Thank you for having me, I, Jeanette. Your first impressions of the case so far as we end week one. Just let's start there. It has been a show. It has been a performance from both sides. Not what exactly we expected to see at a trial, but definitely a performance on each side.

Every day, you just never know what you're going to get from this trial. It kind of reminds me of the Darrell Brooke trial. A little bit, yeah. Our defendant is a little more behaved, I guess better behaved than Darrell Brooks, but there is still that viral aspect of it. So some of the moments that we've seen in this trial have set the internet on fire. You know, they've gone viral on Instagram, TikTok. People are turning, I know, to our social media accounts to see what is he going to do next in front of the camera. And one of the big moments that happened during week one that really had people thinking, oh my gosh, what is going on here? Was Melly kissing kind of into his hands and then it appeared he was blowing it out? So Bernard had almost feels like it was like

a little bit of a prayer there. And then this kind of almost like a Zen moment and then poof. So what do you make of this? You know, I should mention a lot of this is going on outside the presence of the jury, but it's still being captured and seen everywhere. So as you can see with Melly, a lot is going on in his mind. In terms of the pressures that he's facing, remember that he's facing a death penalty. So a lot is riding on this trial. So I'm sure that he was probably sending a prayer and also just asking for some peace or calming down of his mind.

But who knows because we can't get into his mind frame. I think one of the things that's important to keep in mind here, and kind of preparing for this trial. I watched a lot of interviews and videos of Melly. And I remember him talking about kind of like these two kind of personalities within him. Melly, who's kind of chill and Melvin, who was more protective, I guess, or maybe had more of a violent streak. And maybe there's just a lot going on within him, as you mentioned, that we don't know about. And he even talked to one interview about having more than two personalities, more than the Melly and the Mellie and the Mellie.

in the Melvin. So do you think that might be part of what is going on here? It's possible. You got to think for a defendant, for a person that is on trial, especially a person that's on trial for his life. There are a lot of pressures and a lot of things to think about. And as a defendant, you're sitting there and you have to be quiet. You can't respond to what's going on in the courtroom. And he's just listening to everything that is being said, everything that is going on in that courtroom. So it's trying to get some peace in his mind or try to lay things out or get some understanding. There's just so much going on. And it's like, you never know what his personality or just his mental health, how's it doing on any particular day. And that's just for

anyone that could be standing trial, especially when their life is on the line. Very stressful situation. Most of us cannot understand what it's like to be in that position. Most of us have not been charged with serious crimes and murder is the most serious crime you can face in our criminal justice system. In a lot of courtrooms, Bernardo, there are strict rules about decorum. And when a defendant can say things, of course, they can always talk with their attorneys. I've been in courtrooms before where the defendant can't, you know, they might be able to look to their family or they maybe give him a nod or a wave when they come in. There's been some video that we've captured of him kind of motioning to the gallery as he exits. So, Bernardo,

what do you make of that? Does this kind of play against Mellie? all this is just him being a young guy maybe doing this to his family what do you think so not at all internet so you have to think this is going at the end of the case when the court is done for the day or even right before lunch before their break or actually any time there is a break so in terms of order in the courtroom that is all up to the judge the judge determine what the order is going to be what's going to be the decorum of the courtroom some judges do not allow the defendant to turn around from their state or to

actually address anyone in the audience. So it's all up to the judge. But in terms of his actions right now, it's quite common. He wants to turn around and take a look at his family, his friends, or his supporters, and just let them know that he appreciates their support. And this is all out of the presence of the jury.

That's the most important thing. You have to think about, is the jury present in the courtroom when these actions are taking place because that makes the big difference? Most certainly. And we haven't really seen him. At least I haven't noticed him doing these things.

in the presence of the jury. One of the things we did notice on Thursday was him doing something, you know, he's a musician. And it appeared that he was kind of like maybe thinking about some music, bopping his head. What do you think, Bernarda? Again, this is him trying to get some peace in his mind. We all bopped to music, but you have to think that he is a musician. He is a rapper. So to him, this may be the common effect that he needs in order to continue with this. trial day in and day out. So again, I don't make much of it. Again, the difference is, was the jury present when he was doing this? And it's not disturbing the courtroom or the proceedings. So I don't see a judge calling him out on these actions of him bop in his head. But I'm sure if the

jury was present, they may be asking themselves, what is going on in his head? Why is he bop in his head? But they probably also know that he is a musician. You know, he produces music. They wouldn't know this, but I saw an interview of him one time talking about how he wrote murder on my mind while he was doing time on another charge. So involving a firearm and firing a gun near a school. So I think a lot of people might do that. But even though it's not in front of the jury, there's still a camera in there. Would that cause you any concern? Because these images are being seen out on the internet. There are mixed reactions to them. His fans love it, right? His fans really like it. His critics, his detractors, not so much. Yeah, but you got to think while other people

are concerned about the camera and they're watching this, it doesn't matter. And the reason it doesn't matter is because the people outside of the courtroom, they're not the jurors. They're not in the jury. What matters is what those 12 people that are sitting listening to the evidence, what they think, what's going on, how they are evaluating his actions inside of the courtroom. So in terms of the camera, I'm not concerned about it. Of course, he doesn't. knows he's being recorded. Of course, he knows that this is being aired out into the public, into the media, but that same video captions are not being presented in front of the jury. Bernardo, one thing that has caught the attention of some people is the fact that Mellie seems

to smile at the camera a lot. One person described it as him flirting with the camera. So, Bernardo, what do you make of that? The smiling, we see the head bopping again. Maybe he thinks that he's doing a music video. Who knows? But I just. think the bopping part is probably out of nervousness and try to calm himself down and in terms of the smile and I think it's also the same thing. What I'm curious to see is whether he's been evaluated for any kind of mental health issues in the sense of going forward with this trial. But of course he has to be competent to be able to go forward with trial. But I'm curious whether that examination was done, whether there was any concern as to his ability to proceed

with the trial. I'm curious about that too, especially when I watched some of the these interviews that he had done before all of this happened. I wondered when he was talking about Melly versus Melvin. Also, how many people, I mean, I can't imagine being on trial for double murder and not being a little bit worried and concerned. So how much of this is putting on a show, putting on a front? I mean, I think that can be a part of it. But also, you have to think there's so many different things that are playing in here. One thing we have to remember, of course, he's a young man. Two, he is a rapper. He does have fame in the sense of he has a lot of fans. So he may want to portray himself in a certain way for the fans, but also have to balance it out that I'm going to

trial for my life here. So try to get some calmness and being able to proceed day in and day out. But I think the power is in the defense attorney in speaking to him and let him know, like, look, you are on display. All your actions are being seen and not just in front of the jury, but also on the camera. So just be mindful. And I think that's what the defense attorney has to do every day is remind him, like, look, not only is a jury watching you, but also the cameras are watching you. And I think that's the power struggle that Mellie's having with himself. It's like, wait, I'm a rapper, but I'm also on trial for my life. One thing, Bernardo, that some people pointed out to us is that Melly appears to smell himself at some points. He kind of sniffs himself. And there was one moment in

particular on Thursday that really caught the attention of people on social media. Obviously, you know, this is something people on social media are talking about. The jury's not seeing it. But what are your thoughts? And Jeanette, haven't you smell something like, wait, hold up, is that me? Let me check if that's me. I want to confirm that it's not me at all. Exactly. I mean, I had as well. I want to make sure that it's not me. So you got to think with Melly, he's not really paying attention that the camera is completely videotaping every little thing that he's doing. I don't think he's thinking about it each and every second. So he had a personal moment and just have to check out and make sure that it wasn't him. Or maybe it was him. Yeah, I think we've all had one of those moments where you're like, uh-oh, I smell something. Is that me or what have you? But it did seem to catch fire a little bit on Twitter, that particular clip. Another thing that people have pointed out is the fact that he kind of chit-chats toward the gallery at the end of the day.

And I feel like Bernardo, in that particular, particular clip, he looked kind of annoyed and irritated. So something kind of caught his attention or caught his eye, and he's obviously talking with one of his lawyers about it. Yeah, it looks like something transpired or something may have been mouthed to him that actually bothered him. Now, in terms of how the defense attorney is responding, the defense attorney has to be very mindful. Again, if it is in front of the jury, her reaction, how she's reacting to her client, because remember, you don't want to give off to the jury that, one, it's like maybe you're too close to the client or two, that you're scared of the client or uncomfortable with the client.

There's a lot that the defense attorney has to be mindful of because it all depends. again, how is the jury receiving these types of interactions? But that particular interaction wasn't in front of the jury, but I'm just talking in general when the jury is present. So you think all of this outside the presence of the jury is much ado about nothing. Maybe the fans see it on social media, but, you know, your thoughts? Absolutely. All of this that's going on outside of the presence of the jury, I would not pay it no mind

because it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter in the sense of that the jury is not present, and the jury is ultimately the ones that are going to make the ultimate decision as to his guilt and whether the death penalty should be placed in this case. He should be given the death penalty. Outside of the presence of the jury, I'm not concerned as long as he's not acting disrespecting the court in the sense that the judge may hold him in contempt or that he can say or do something outside of the presence of the jury that can possibly be used against him at trial. Those are my concerns right there. Bernardo, there's been a lot of chatter on social media, on the YouTube chat about the attorney that sits next to Melly and Mellie. And she seems to be almost kind of like motherly toward him. They seem to be very friendly.

There's a lot of giggling and laughing going on. So I'm kind of wondering what your thoughts are about that. So my thoughts in regards to that as a criminal defense attorney, as a former prosecutor, is that it's possible that the criminal defense attorney can be trying to, timing him and in a sense of like rubbing him and talking to him and seeming very close to him in front of the jury to try to show the jury like look this is not a guy that's capable of killing two people like this is a guy i'm comfortable with talking to to sitting next to actually putting my hand on him to make to let him know that it's going to be okay so this can actually all be an act in front of the jury so they can take that into account because remember the jury's observant everything that's going on in the courtroom and this can be just a show of the defense part But also on the flip side, this can also be the defense attorney has been working with Mellie for for years now and that she's gotten close to Mellie. So they have built a rapport relationship. And this is why they're so close to each other. But as long as they keep it professional and they're tending to what's going on in the courtroom, it's all okay.

So it could be a lot of strategy going on with this. I mean, it could be genuine, but also there could be a strategy, a strategic kind of thing going on here. Absolutely. It could be strategic. I will make it strategic, especially when you're talking about two people, two murders that you're talking about. You want to try to portray and also humanize Melly for this jury. And that's the way of doing it without actually speaking to the jury. And really, people forget, there is a bit of stagecraft that goes into these things. Am I wrong? You're not wrong at all. When it comes to being a trial attorney, and if you're an excellent trial attorney, you have to know that everything, it is a performance. You are on stage. You are performing for this jury. From the moment you leave your house in a morning and every single second that you're in front of that jury, whatever you do is a performance for that jury. Because all they have to do is just observe you. That's what they're doing. Because remember, the jury can't speak while the testimony is going on or while the proceedings are going on. And we should mention and remind the audience that he is facing the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.

And it's under this new lower threshold of an eight to four vote by the jury. It used to be unanimous. But the law changed recently just this past April following the Parkland shooting. People were pretty upset about that. And Governor DeSantis signed the law change on that. Well, Bernardo Villalona, we appreciate your time as always. Thank you so much for coming on to kind of evaluate this with us. and see whether or not the behavior of Mellie in court matters at all,

especially when the jury is not there. We appreciate it. Thank you, Anjanet. Thank you for having me. And that's it for this edition of Law and Crime Sidebar podcast. You can listen to and download Sidebar on Apple, Spotify, Google, and wherever else you get your podcasts. And of course, you can always watch it on Law and Crimes YouTube channel.

I'm Anjanet Levy, and we will see you next time. You can binge all episodes of this law and crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.