Fed Explains YNW Melly Murder Trial
Episode Stats
Length
1 hour and 36 minutes
Words per Minute
165.36464
Summary
An FBI agent is on the stand in the YNellie Case and is using cell phone location data to prove the murder of Yvonne "Mellie" Bortland and the other two friends that were murdered in a rural area of Florida.
Transcript
00:00:00.600
All right. What's up, guys? We're doing something a little bit different. This is the audible audible. All right. So pretty much, guys, I'm going to go ahead and pull up this Mellie trial that's going right now.
00:00:12.240
They have an FBI agent actually testifying right now. And this FBI agent specializes in cell phone location data.
00:00:19.760
So I'm going to go ahead and start reacting to this thing right now while it's live. Let's see what happens. All right. Let's say I know this is impromptu. You're probably like, what's going on here?
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I've had the opportunity to validate your history.
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We do it live, guys. We do it live. Let's follow in. I'm about to do an IG story. We live now. Let's watch this baby.
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So we're going to call data reconstructions. What are the things you do?
00:01:09.900
I'm going to break down for y'all what's going on here in a little bit.
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Well, as we mentioned sort of during the, when I was talking about the train-up, if it's a situation, a case where we're trying to find someone who we believe is in possession of a crime and you do an analysis and you say,
00:01:27.620
I think we need to go to this house and go there and the person and the phone are there, that's validation.
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If you, if we have a case where we have some sort of other evidence that corroborates it, okay, crimes against children case, and there's that data on media that was produced at a specific location,
00:01:46.380
and the cell site that says, okay, I would know this film or something that was produced here, and here's what the cell site looks like, and that corroborates it.
00:01:52.860
So when you say metadata, can you explain what that is?
00:01:57.580
Yeah, that's outside of what I do with CAS, but that would be something that would be in a media file, perhaps, that somebody else would extract the file from using a physical extraction device or a computer or some other device.
00:02:15.360
Sometimes there's metadata embedded within the image or video or whatever that will tell you different things, such as when.
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All right, just so you guys know, real quick, for some of you guys that are piling in right now, and I'll give you all a reminder real quick.
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I am reacting right now to the YNW Mellie case.
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As you guys know, he's on trial right now, live, and down here in South Florida for murder.
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The person that's on the stand right now is an FBI agent that specializes in cell phone location data, okay?
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So, yeah, we're just going to, I'll pause this as needed, break things down for y'all, but this is an FBI agent that's testifying right now to cell phone location data
00:02:48.960
because he had done probably the forensics for that case.
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They messed up over here at Law and Crime Network, probably.
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You know, they're always going to have mess ups, et cetera.
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So, basically, guys, I was at the chiropractor, right?
00:03:34.060
And I saw that an FBI agent took the stand to talk about the cell phone stuff.
00:03:43.420
But as you guys know, give y'all a quick little summary of what went down so far.
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They've had a couple of people come up and testify.
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Mellie's girlfriend's mom has testified where, you know, she wasn't cooperating so much with the prosecution.
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They had some of the forensic guys that went ahead and analyzed the vehicle, testify.
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I think right before this, they had a detective testify.
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And right now, they got an FBI agent testifying that specializes in cell phone location data, which is very important.
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Because as you guys know, this case is heavily reliant upon the cell phone location data on Mellie's phone.
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Just to give you guys a quick little recap of the case.
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Mellie's on trial right now for the double homicide of his two friends.
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The friends were killed in a rural area in Miramar, Florida, which is about, you know, 30, 40 minutes from here down here in Miami, up in Broward County.
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And Mellie and his friend, Y&W Bortland, okay, a.k.a. Cortland Henry, they alleged that they had been shot during a drive-by shooting.
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However, the bullets are on the right side of the vehicle, but the bullet trajectory and the forensics show that the people were wounded from their left, okay?
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And I'll show you real quick, guys, here, the vehicle assortment of how they had this.
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This is how they were seated in the vehicle, right?
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All right, so, Mellie was in the back left seat right here, all right?
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Then you got Zach Chaser, and I think this guy's name is Chris down here.
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But, so, the bullets, right, for the vehicle, when the police showed up on, when the police looked at the car,
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the bullets were all on the right-hand side of the vehicle like this, none on the left-hand side.
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On their left, which means they were shot from this direction, okay?
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So, pretty much the forensics has proven that the fatal gunshot wounds came from inside the vehicle,
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from the left-hand side, based on the wounds and based on the stippling, okay?
00:06:03.760
Stippling, guys, is when you have burn marks on you from close range, from a firearm being shot at you close range, okay?
00:06:12.160
It creates, like, a burn, and some of that gunshot residue, et cetera, gets on you when it hits the skin from a close distance.
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So, there was stippling on both of these individuals, and it was very obvious that they had been shot from their left,
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not from their right, as Mellie and Bortland tried to say from a drive-by shooting, okay?
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Now, Mellie, during the whole time, had his cell phone with him.
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And with the cell phone, the police were able to pretty much pinpoint his location of where he was the whole time,
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which contradicted what he had told the police before.
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You know, he had said that he had driven with another friend to another location,
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but the cell phone data showed that that was not true, guys, all right?
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So, okay, so right now, Brendan Collins, FBI special agent, he is the one that's testifying right now.
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And he specializes in cell phone location data.
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Well, if you're being asked to do, like, a location analysis, in other words, to the case involves trying to determine
00:07:04.760
where a particular device was at a certain point in time, nearly three things that you need.
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First, you need the records for that particular device.
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That will say that a little of the initial records, like a call detail record, for instance,
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will sort of look like a billing statement that you might get a number of comments that will say,
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you know, this state of time, this phone number, place this call to this other number, et cetera.
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Except it will also have additional information that will say a cell tower that the phone connected to,
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You also need a record of the power of locations that says, okay, the power of the phone connected to
00:07:43.780
is located at this particular point on the earth.
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You put those two things together into some sort of mapping software and plot it,
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and that will give you a general area of where the device was at the time that it connected to that power.
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Can you testify to a specific person within a specific area?
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Because the records I have are just about devices.
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Have you received any specialized training to become an agent that does CAST as well?
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There's several stages that the certification process is broken into.
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The first, I started my initial training in 2017.
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The first phase of training is the CAST basic course.
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That's a two- or three-day course where agents and officers from are.
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Just so you guys know, the reason why the prosecutor is asking him these questions,
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He's a government witness, or in this case, a state witness.
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So, the prosecutor is asking him questions to understand his training and experience,
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He's being brought in right now as a subject matter expert on this trial.
00:09:00.140
He's not necessarily the investigating case detective in this,
00:09:03.940
but the FBI was brought in to help analyze the phone location data,
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and having a subject expert witness a lot of times helps with explaining how this all works.
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The local state or other federal agencies are exposed to what cellular analysis is
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Do you use the CAST work in your day-to-day cases before you became a supervisor?
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So, at the time that he did this phone stuff, guys, he was a regular agent,
00:09:36.560
but now he's a GS-14, which means he's a supervisor.
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But since he was involved back in 2018, remember, guys, this was almost five years ago.
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Is this a required assignment to go to the CAST team?
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I wanted to interrupt, but there's a lot more training than just that two-day thing.
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Oh, well, let's start with, to do that first two-day training.
00:10:06.000
To go on past that, is that something you have to apply for?
00:10:12.640
And to explain, after that first initial training, what happens?
00:10:16.900
So, the next course is called the advanced course.
00:10:21.600
And that's just a more in-depth dive into each of the networks.
00:10:24.480
So, specifically, what are the weaknesses of, say, Verizon or T-Mobile,
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like, QT, Sprint, when it was a standalone provider, what their records look like,
00:10:33.540
what are the weaknesses of their, where their network's designed, et cetera.
00:10:37.120
After the advanced course, then we'd have a sort of test, it's like a week-long, when I went
00:10:44.380
through, it was a mix of part in the classroom and part in the field, where it's all scenario-based.
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So, for instance, you'd be like a kid back in scenario.
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Like, hey, this child was abducted, would be your job as the pass they're going through
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to try and use the records to develop the search locations.
00:11:01.220
And, yeah, I think that we need to go here to try and encourage a child.
00:11:05.220
You need to push in the classroom, you need to push in the real world, where they have test rooms
00:11:09.720
at different locations, and you validate the results right there, so you either find the, you know,
00:11:14.980
the person, or it would, at the end, either pass or fail.
00:11:18.560
So, I passed, and I was allowed to continue to do a certification course, which is a four-week course.
00:11:24.480
And, again, I know, guys, this might be redundant or boring or whatever, but he's explaining all this
00:11:42.840
to show that he's qualified to what he's about to testify later.
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He's basically laying the foundation to let the jury know, let the audience know that he is qualified
00:11:51.960
because he's probably going to go ahead and give testimony to verify the location data.
00:11:56.780
And this is extremely important for the prosecution, guys, because the prosecution needs to link
00:12:01.840
So far right now in this trial, they've shown, you know, wound patterns, they've shown shootings,
00:12:06.020
they've shown that they were basically shot in the vehicle, but they haven't been able to
00:12:08.760
effectively link Mellie, right, to the shooting because there's plausible deniability.
00:12:12.560
Like, oh, we don't know if Mellie was the one that actually shot him because we don't have
00:12:16.520
So, what they're going to do, right, with this witness, more than likely, in my estimation,
00:12:20.060
is they're going to go ahead and use this FBI agent, who's an expert with cell location
00:12:25.300
data, to prove that Mellie was, in fact, at the scene at the time of the crime and the
00:12:29.880
shooting when his friends were murdered in that rural area in Miramar, Florida.
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Representatives from all the major cell phone providers in the U.S., both their law enforcement
00:12:39.760
relations and records custodians, personnel, we talked about that these are the types of records
00:12:45.140
that we keep in our specific record, which in our specific company, we also bring in personnel
00:12:52.140
from there, the network engineers, so the people who build the network, who design it, to go
00:12:57.140
to infrastructures, the sprints, network operations that are really able to see an entry
00:13:02.380
of the whole network across the country, et cetera, and then, at the end of that, there's a test
00:13:07.140
that you need to pass, are certified, or you can yell.
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Okay, so, Special Agent Collins, are you certified in CAST analysis?
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Is there continuing education or recertification that's required?
00:13:30.560
The Mellie murder ended up going down, what, guys, in October?
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And I don't think they arrested Mellie until around February 2019, so he had his certification
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for a few months, probably, by the time they brought him the phones and got them involved,
00:13:48.560
Is all of the training specifically from the FDF?
00:13:52.920
What other agencies and, I guess, companies do the training for you?
00:13:58.140
Yes, we have partnerships, or not partnerships, but we'll bring in educators from a lot of
00:14:06.040
So, obviously, the different telecommunications companies are critical.
00:14:11.360
So, we have them come to the recertification contracts every year.
00:14:17.960
We've had Apple, Volcom, Oracle, people with GPS, cell engineering, vehicles, or vehicle telepathics.
00:14:27.140
Anybody that's sort of involved in that ecosystem?
00:14:38.340
Is there also specific as to cellular technology and how it works training on that?
00:14:52.880
How long have you been specializing in call, detail, records, and EMS?
00:14:59.560
I'm going to give the donor a copy of the order that was discussed about the report that
00:15:07.460
So, I'm going to fast forward to make sure that we're current here.
00:15:11.580
We are going to object to the immiscibility of the CAST report.
00:15:15.200
We have circulated to his testimony after deposing him.
00:15:19.520
And then I will also bring to the record, she's trying to bring in three different CAST reports.
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When we had deposed Agent Collins, we only had deposed him as to one CAST report.
00:15:31.320
We had extensive conversations about whether the state would be bringing in the additional
00:15:38.040
We had agreed at that time, if they were going to bring in those reports, she would let us
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We were always told it would be for one report of the two phone numbers.
00:15:52.600
And which we are objecting to the immiscibility of those reports based on Hennessy.
00:15:57.620
Also, they are misleading, and also the information in those reports have not been properly validated
00:16:11.120
So, as of April 4, 2022, what report was in existence as far as Special Agent Collins?
00:16:19.660
So, the first one that was with regards to Anthony Williams' cell phone, as well as Mr.
00:16:27.140
I'll give you guys an explanation of what's going on here in a second.
00:16:32.960
The other ones were generated in May of 2022, and immediately turned over to Defense Council,
00:16:39.280
and I have a very different recollection of that.
00:16:41.900
This was listed at the same time as Mr. Zeller that we just had, so there was never any additional
00:16:52.560
But, so Agent Collins has been available for the last hour long, if they had so chose to
00:17:01.020
And Judge, I would just for the record of making an objection to her characterizing that particular
00:17:05.940
phone that is actually registered to the J.P. team as Mr. Clinton's job, and I'm afraid
00:17:20.560
So, as you guys can see, Meli's over here on the left-hand side.
00:17:21.560
This is the prosecutor right here in the green, guys.
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This is probably either another prosecutor or maybe an aide.
00:17:28.560
And then you've got these three individuals right here are Meli's lawyers.
00:17:41.560
So, what they're basically trying to do right now, guys, is they're trying to challenge this
00:17:49.560
And I'm not surprised they are because this is damn critical evidence for the prosecution's
00:17:54.560
case, because that's what effectively puts Meli at the crime scene.
00:17:56.560
This is the characterization that it's Mr. Giddenspone and Mr. Widdenspone, actually.
00:18:24.560
And, yes, guys, this trial is live right now as we speak up in, I think they're doing
00:18:43.560
On this side, I think it's probably Meli's supporters and family, right?
00:18:48.560
He's like, hey, what the hell are y'all looking at?
00:18:52.560
So, this is probably family, friends, fans, etc.
00:18:55.560
And then, more than likely, on the other side is the family of the victim.
00:19:00.560
So, this right here is probably Meli's supporters on this side.
00:19:02.560
And for those of you that are joining us right now, on the stand, they have an FBI special
00:19:17.560
agent that specializes in phone location data, guys.
00:19:21.560
That is the expert witness that they have on the stand right now, where I think in day
00:19:28.560
And there's been a couple of people that have hit the stand so far.
00:19:31.560
But right now, what the prosecution is focusing on is effectively tying Meli to the murderer,
00:19:36.560
Because all they've done at this point is show that the individuals are murdered.
00:19:43.560
The gunshots definitely came from inside the vehicle, etc., etc.
00:19:46.560
They show the surveillance footage as well, which I'll pull up that for you guys as well
00:19:50.560
right now while we wait for these people to get this going.
00:19:59.560
When you're doing trial, etc., you know what I mean?
00:20:01.560
You're going back and forth, you know, making sure everything is, you know, right
00:20:06.560
So, yeah, it's not going to be super exciting all the time.
00:20:09.560
But while we wait for these lawyers to get their shit together, as you can see,
00:20:12.560
here's the FBI agent right here on the stand, right?
00:20:17.560
He's obviously going to give his testimony as an expert with phone location data.
00:20:21.560
But the defense right now is trying to challenge him because this evidence right here that they're
00:20:26.560
going to talk about is critical to the case because it puts Mellie to see him.
00:20:29.560
And what it means as to the location of the cellular devices based on the records,
00:20:35.560
which is all done as a product of the accuracy of the records and the fact that the cell phone
00:20:44.560
communicates in a consistent way based on the laws of physics with a cell phone talent.
00:20:51.560
You see, in here, it talks about the phone 772-713-9807.
00:21:12.560
It has the date of the report being May 12, 2022.
00:21:29.560
I believe, if I'm not mistaken, there was a typo that had to be finished on the spelling of the defendant's name,
00:21:35.560
which is why it was generated at a second time on that point.
00:21:40.560
All right, so as you guys can see, the defense is basically, you know, going after everything.
00:21:44.560
Hey, his name was misspelled in this report, blah, blah, blah.
00:21:56.560
Can you respond to me? Say what you want to ask.
00:21:58.560
I would just say that it has Mr. Devon's name on it, Mr. William's name.
00:22:03.560
That needs to be circuit along with the other three reports, which actually filed after he deposed him.
00:22:15.560
It is my recollection that we were told the report, but it would not be used.
00:22:21.560
There was a question that James and Francoise's cast report would be used.
00:22:30.560
We finally rested on the fact that she was not going to be using Mr. Francoise's phone.
00:22:36.560
So it is a little bit of surprise that it is now being introduced to that file.
00:22:40.560
And the other one, I believe, with Withers, we never ever discussed it.
00:22:45.560
I don't fully understand this order dated April 22nd.
00:23:00.560
It says order to judge a special agent Collins' expert testimony in the area of cellular phone forensics
00:23:15.560
I don't see this specifically saying it's admissible.
00:23:18.560
I see it saying special agent Collins' expert testimony in the area of the cellular phone forensics
00:23:31.560
But I don't believe I'd be letting this into evidence.
00:23:38.560
And so in regards to that, the necessity of the maps is that the special agent Collins'
00:23:45.560
going to testify in terms of latitude, longitude, and distance of him on maps without a map,
00:23:51.560
and using that for the jurors to be able to understand where this is placed on the actual
00:24:00.560
He can show it as a mock surveyor that's going to help him to make all his testimony.
00:24:09.560
Typically, we don't just admit an expert's report.
00:24:13.560
You know, the expert's here is going to testify.
00:24:18.560
It's not clear for me from this order that that's what Judge Siegel anticipated, that
00:24:24.560
I don't have any issue regarding his testimony.
00:24:28.560
They're not even here with Boyd Ironman regarding his qualifications.
00:24:35.560
But as far as the report coming in, I don't read your order that way, respectfully.
00:24:41.560
So, you're trying to then, if I can show the admissibility of the maps with that owner,
00:24:49.560
then you would evaluate them as their offered individual.
00:24:55.560
I mean, if he's able to identify them and talk to them, that's a different issue.
00:25:00.560
You're wanting to admit the whole report in this, the way I understand it, as substantive
00:25:16.560
It's a duplicate of whatever he's going to testify to.
00:25:28.560
I don't know if this is what the judge intended.
00:25:35.560
I don't know if they're approved by the defense.
00:25:40.560
Typically, that's just not done by the way it's being done putting in the document.
00:25:44.560
So, there are a number of cases on that specific issue.
00:25:54.560
About the maps and the mapping being admissible.
00:26:03.560
Well, I just want to make sure we're clear on what specifically.
00:26:10.560
Just to summarize the legal jargon that's going on here.
00:26:12.560
Basically, they're trying to get this report in as evidence, but the judge is having an issue with that.
00:26:18.560
It seems like he has an issue with the report, not necessarily the maps, and he wants the agent to testify to the report, but they don't necessarily want the report in is the way I understand it.
00:26:29.560
It's a little confusing, but the prosecutor here did not prepare properly.
00:26:36.560
So, again, this is important because they're trying to show where the hell he was at.
00:26:42.560
So, that's because there could be the possibility that a juror would think, well, this is showing that the phone is somewhere in this purple area, which would not be correct.
00:26:53.560
As opposed to, for example, a timing advanced illustration, which in this case, the witnesses can testify that the phone is somewhere in this band, based on suit.
00:27:09.560
And then, as well as, so in terms of the way the mapping is then done, to make it clear and understand that these red dots are not the specific locations, but rather the towers that are used.
00:27:26.560
I think it's important for the jurors to understand that and have the first part of that analysis there,
00:27:34.560
so that there can't be any sort of improper recall by the jurors on that.
00:27:48.560
So, then as to the locations on those, and this would be one of the timing exams.
00:27:57.560
Okay, so she's trying to get everything in so it makes more sense to the jury, but the defense is challenging that.
00:28:10.560
That's basically what's going on right now, guys. I want to summarize it for you.
00:28:13.560
The fact that the timing advanced data and the way it is done, I don't want there to be any confusion to the jurors to saying that this is overstating the evidence.
00:28:24.560
So, if I just put in these particular items without the full explanation, because I don't think it is appropriate to do so without the jurors understanding the limitations of the testimony and what the different maps show.
00:28:40.560
So, on that would be the specific parts the state would be seeking to introduce, because the locations of the towers are important to how the map is done.
00:28:54.560
My understanding is the defense is objective to that exhibit, is that correct?
00:29:05.560
So, I guess in some way it has to come out how it was done.
00:29:10.560
And you can talk to the witness and see if they can authenticate it.
00:29:17.560
The reason I was thinking that you've been using is demonstrative, and I would ask you if that helps inculstrate his testimony or not.
00:29:24.560
If you're saying you're not concerned with that, you might admit the evidence.
00:29:42.560
Nobody has established that number of incidents.
00:29:46.560
We've got no testimony that establishes that it's Mr. Williams' phone.
00:29:50.560
If we were to go to the other two reports, I don't know if our report's rolling on now.
00:29:55.560
Again, she's referencing the phone numbers and signing them to people.
00:29:59.560
We have had no testimony or evidence before the court that those actual phone numbers belong to those individuals.
00:30:07.560
So, I haven't heard any phone numbers being assigned to any individuals.
00:30:13.560
That is why the state introduced the phone slip that has been brought in to the defendant's fingerprint.
00:30:18.560
He endorsed that as his telephone number, and as such, the state can now argue that.
00:30:23.560
As to all of the other individuals, those are coming in from the phone records themselves.
00:30:28.560
For example, Dungita Swithers and Chris Thomas, because I went through with the slip records, Mr. Williams.
00:30:35.560
What is the phone number that's on that corner sheet that you're saying is Mr. Williams?
00:30:47.560
That's why we had the fingerprint analysis done, and they came in and identified that as the fingerprint of the defendant.
00:30:58.560
The next two phone numbers that are the easiest ones to go through, Your Honor, are the phone numbers at Christopher Thomas.
00:31:13.560
And you guys are probably wondering, why is this important to know the phone numbers?
00:31:16.560
Because when you want to go ahead and get geolocation data, guys, on a phone, you identify the phone by the device and by the phone number of the device.
00:31:22.560
So what they're trying to do is they're trying to say, not only do we know this is Mellie's phone and it was in this location, we saw Mellie's fingerprints on the phone.
00:31:29.560
So he was the user of the phone because the defense has been trying to say, well, the phone isn't in Mellie's name.
00:31:36.560
But so the prosecution is trying to show that he is the user of that phone, regardless of the name on the actual bill.
00:31:42.560
Right. Because you can have a family plan that might not necessarily have the last name of the user of that phone.
00:31:46.560
It might be the parent or whatever, but he's the user of that phone, which is why they're trying to link it up that way.
00:31:50.560
But the defense is fighting and saying, hey, well, you guys are trying to bring in this evidence.
00:31:56.560
We don't have everyone else that's involved in this map that you guys are talking about.
00:31:59.560
So the defense is trying to not get this put in for obvious reasons because it puts Mellie at the scene.
00:32:14.560
And I can bring up here, for your honor, the specific information on Mr. Thomas's phone that was brought in earlier.
00:32:25.560
Don't worry, guys. I'll read the chats here in a bit, too.
00:32:27.560
Thank you so much for donating, by the way. I see them coming in.
00:32:35.560
There's the phone number at the top of the screen.
00:32:51.560
Yeah, I think Fredo definitely lied to the police as well about where he was that night.
00:32:59.560
But Fredo was involved in hiding the gun, too, because they don't have the murder weapon guys in this situation.
00:33:04.560
They don't have it, which is kind of sucks for the prosecution.
00:33:07.560
Going down in the same records because they were produced at the same time.
00:33:13.560
Oh, in addition, the email address with it is ChrisThomas86.
00:33:22.560
The next phone number that is on this particular is 954-371-7895.
00:33:38.560
And that is belonging to an individual by the name of John Tedious Withers.
00:33:48.560
Are there any other phone numbers this witness is going to be testifying?
00:33:53.560
He would also be testifying on the T-Mobile records to the individual by the name of Jameson Francois.
00:34:04.560
And to go to the subscriber information for Mr. Francois's phone.
00:34:17.560
There's been testimony that Adria or AA is the wife of Jameson Francois.
00:34:24.560
In addition, that phone number for Mr. Francois 954-376-9158 is consistently in the phone download of Mr. Demons and is listed as TRAC.
00:34:41.560
And there are plenty of photographs and things of that nature that would show and illustrate that Mr. Jameson Francois, also known as TRAC, is the owner of that phone number.
00:34:52.560
All right, who is TRAC? That's TRAC 100, guys, who is the manager for Melly.
00:34:56.560
So the phone is in his name, it seems, for T-Mobile, which we know that's Melly's phone under the T-Mobile service.
00:35:07.560
And the rest of the subscriber information also says it is a family plan.
00:35:13.560
And as you guys know, the subscriber means the owner of the telephone.
00:35:17.560
Basically, who's paying the bills for that phone?
00:35:24.560
Rate plan, family unlimited, two lines include them.
00:35:27.560
The subscriber information for the first phone that you're suggesting is Mr. Demons.
00:35:34.560
What does that subscriber information look like?
00:35:40.560
Okay, that's, as you guys know, YNW Melly is Jamel Demons, and his mom is named Jamie King.
00:35:49.560
So, guys, basically what we're seeing here is a standstill.
00:36:08.560
You got this FBI agent here that's trying to testify to the location data of the phone and the towers, et cetera, to show that Melly was in the location.
00:36:16.560
The defense is coming in trying to challenge that.
00:36:18.560
And what is going on right now is the prosecutor is going back and forth with the judge and the defense to try to get this cell phone information admitted.
00:36:26.560
The defense is basically saying, hey, well, we don't know if this could come in because X, Y, Z, blah, blah, blah.
00:36:32.560
And this is defense's job, right, to deflect and try to not get this evidence brought in because it's obviously going to hurt their client, Melly, because it puts him at the scene.
00:36:38.560
So that's basically the summary of what's going on here, explaining all this legal jargon for y'all, because I can see how it would be confusing.
00:36:52.560
And while we wait, guys, we got 1,300 of y'all in here.
00:37:05.560
So do me a favor, man, please like the video because we're going impromptu live right now.
00:37:08.560
You guys know I never go live in the middle of the day like this, but obviously this is a special occasion.
00:37:12.560
So go ahead and like the video for me, please, guys, and sub to the channel if you haven't already.
00:37:35.560
All right, so you guys can see here, it says right here, sell bright readers.
00:37:40.560
So sell bright, guys, is a device that law enforcement uses, right?
00:37:47.560
So you guys can see here, it says right here, sell bright readers.
00:38:05.560
So sell bright, guys, is a device that law enforcement uses, right, to what you call a data dump of the phone.
00:38:12.560
And a data dump of the phone is you're able to get the phone calls, the text messages, et cetera.
00:38:15.560
Everything from that phone is extracted and it's put in a format where you can read and analyze the data from the phone.
00:38:23.560
This is a dump of a phone where you can see all the different parts of the conversation, all the things in the phone, right?
00:38:28.560
Look, device locations, cookies, contacts, chats, call logs, calendar, apps, info, activities, device notifications.
00:38:36.560
All this stuff is in the data dump from the cell bright.
00:38:39.560
So cell bright is a technology that law enforcement uses to dump phones and analyze the data.
00:38:43.560
Again, you indicated this is Mr. Devon's phone.
00:38:47.560
You just told me the subscriber information reflects that it's his mother's phone.
00:38:52.560
This is what the plan is paid for by his mother.
00:38:58.560
In here, she is listed under Brazy, B-R-A-Z-Y, Lady.
00:39:05.560
And that's the 7-7-2-5-0-1-6-9-4-2, which is listed as an additional number subscriber on the phone for Mr. and the phone records.
00:39:28.560
Judge, I just want to point out what she's saying that these are messages between Mr. Devon's and various people.
00:39:37.560
This cell bright actually tells you, like she stated, like it's going to track.
00:39:41.560
But it's coming from Yonsat Chaser Coward, and he's registering as the owner of the 9807 phone,
00:39:49.560
which in these reports keep going back to Mr. Devon's.
00:39:52.560
But in some way, it's showing Yonsat Chaser Coward.
00:39:57.560
And so in further showing as to who owns the phone, we can look at all the videos and images of Mr. Devon's,
00:40:07.560
of which there are over a thousand videos on the phone.
00:40:14.560
I'm showing he is the user and owner of these, this particular device.
00:40:20.560
And the reason why they're trying to establish that he is the user and owner of this phone is because they're trying,
00:40:25.560
this is the phone that was tied to the murder that was at the location when the shootings happened.
00:40:31.560
Judge Jeanine, I don't think that shows that he is the user and owner.
00:40:34.560
It shows that whoever had possession of this phone took videos of Mr. Devon's.
00:40:39.560
They're not selfies. These are actually pictures that appears to be taken by another party.
00:40:48.560
If you want to go to the selfies, I can go to the 10,963 images to show some of those.
00:40:58.560
So I'm just going to imagine your whole phone being shown everybody across the world, man.
00:41:09.560
For example, in this particular image, it's a screenshot of a FaceTime conversation
00:41:15.560
in which the large image is going to be a person who's on the other line.
00:41:20.560
The local device is going to be the tiny picture up at the top, which is of Mr. Devon's.
00:41:31.560
Can you go back to the main subscriber information page?
00:41:46.560
This is your distraction from Celebrate that phone.
00:41:50.560
In terms of information as to leave your accounts that are on this particular phone,
00:42:07.560
You have MLE.Montana, the Snapchat account, which the Snapchat is already in evidence showing that one.
00:42:17.560
You have Jamel Demons, Jamel.Demon Demons, a Facebook account as well on that.
00:42:24.560
In terms of the content of the messages themselves is what will show that this was Mr. Demons' phone.
00:42:33.560
And that he is sending out information and things personal to Jamel himself on this.
00:42:39.560
So there are multiple different types of information to show them.
00:42:49.560
Such as I made a good word to actually go through all of these messages from both of these scenes of their girlfriends to other people.
00:43:01.560
There is no question that our client had used his phone.
00:43:06.560
So this is a phone that they pass amongst each other.
00:43:09.560
I don't think bringing up a satellite or a couple of selfies proves that it was actually his phone.
00:43:14.560
For that argument, there's pictures of Michael Jackson on there.
00:43:17.560
So can I say that Michael Jackson is well-owned in this phone?
00:43:20.560
Based on her argument, that's what she's saying.
00:43:24.560
I don't think she has given any definitive proof that this was 100% possessed only by Mr. Demons.
00:43:33.560
So the defense is trying to say there's pictures of Michael Jackson in here.
00:43:36.560
So by her argument, this could be Michael Jackson's phone, which is kind of hilarious, but okay.
00:43:40.560
I mean, it's very obvious this is Belly's phone, but okay.
00:43:54.560
But guys, the reason why they're fighting so hard to say, hey, this isn't his phone is because they know that this phone was at the crime scene.
00:44:10.560
They're doing everything in their power to attack this piece of evidence, guys.
00:44:15.560
So this is the defense right now putting up a fight against it coming in.
00:44:19.560
The council suggested and gave me phone numbers.
00:44:31.560
One, the council indicated, was Mr. Demons' phone.
00:44:41.560
There's one that was listed as Christopher Thomas phone.
00:44:49.560
And another one has a Francois, known as Trax phone.
00:44:56.560
I haven't seen one that is being on Mr. Williams, am I mistaken?
00:45:26.560
He has that phone and depends on who's well aware of the fact that the phone that Mr. Williams had at the time of his death was recovered.
00:45:33.560
Williams was Sack Chaser, if I'm not mistaken, guys.
00:45:37.560
Williams and Chris are the two guys that were Mellie's friends.
00:45:40.560
That whole file system extraction was done from that phone.
00:45:48.560
And as well as the fact that the cell rate extraction that we just went through also has Mr. Williams saved under the name of twin in the phone of Mr. Dimmons.
00:45:59.560
In which there's discussions back and forth that identify the 954-248-9081 phone number as that of Mr. Williams.
00:46:11.560
So what she's doing right now is she's explaining who each owner was of each phone, each phone number attached to each person.
00:46:17.560
And she's trying to establish the location of each phone in relation to the crime.
00:46:24.560
And the defense is obviously fighting this because it's pretty damning for them if she can get this in.
00:46:28.560
This witness, is he going to testify regarding Mr. Williams' phone?
00:46:34.560
He's going to testify to the locations of that particular cell phone, yes.
00:46:38.560
And they're going to be identified by phone number?
00:46:45.560
If you're going to let in for demonstrative purposes, I could say at the very least that the names are stricken from the reports.
00:46:55.560
And we refer to only the phone numbers, not to the individuals.
00:47:01.560
They only want the phone numbers to be shown, not the names, because obviously she doesn't want the jury to know who is the owner of each phone, at what location, at what time.
00:47:11.560
Because that protects Mellie, because if it's like, oh, well, this phone number did this and that, etc.
00:47:15.560
She doesn't want the prosecutor to be able to definitively say, no, the user of this phone was this individual.
00:47:21.560
It puts Mellie at the scene and ties him to the murder because they have very specific location data that shows that the vehicle was driven to a certain area that I showed you guys before.
00:47:31.560
They walked around the car, shot into it, blah, blah, blah.
00:47:33.560
So the defense is doing everything in their power to not have, number one, they're trying not to get the phones in.
00:47:38.560
And if they are going to get them in, they want to redact it.
00:47:40.560
So the jury isn't necessarily aware of who the owner of each phone is.
00:47:45.560
And that's what the prosecution is trying to do, arguing that, look, there's a bunch of selfies on here.
00:47:50.560
And the defense is saying, well, he has pictures of Michael Jackson in there.
00:47:53.560
So are we going to use the fact that there's pictures of individuals on there to say that that's the person's phone, which is a disingenuous argument.
00:48:06.560
As far as that demonstrative, I'm getting conflicting information.
00:48:12.560
I don't want something going before the jury about this is Mr. Devin's phone or this one's phone.
00:48:20.560
There's circumstantial evidence of that effect, but that's not, I'm not putting that in evidence that way.
00:48:28.560
And you can talk about the maps and the other things.
00:48:32.560
But leave out the portion that has at the bottom, or I forget it's the bottom or top, that identifies Jamel Devin's phone.
00:48:46.560
So I think I would need just a couple of moments to adjust that.
00:49:07.560
It looks like they're taking a quick recess because they're going to probably bring the jury back in.
00:49:12.560
So I'll read some of these chats while we wait.
00:49:25.560
You want to do an emergency meeting tonight for take?
00:49:27.560
Yeah, I mean, guys, they, they pretty much formally charged them.
00:49:30.560
I mean, it took them fucking months to do it, but they weren't formally formally charged them.
00:49:38.560
Uh, whatever relevant goes a shout out from Sweden.
00:49:44.560
Junior says, do you use data dump while working for HSI?
00:49:53.560
That's like the number one, um, device to use when it comes to extracting phones, whether
00:49:57.560
it's law enforcement or intelligence agencies, they all use celebrates, uh, from different
00:50:02.560
But that's pretty much the main thing that all law enforcement uses.
00:50:05.560
Um, and then you got, uh, Arctic Byron goes, is the jury in the room while they're discussing
00:50:08.560
this, or did they remove the jury out of the courtroom?
00:50:10.560
I think it looks like they were out of the courtroom, uh, while they're discussing this
00:50:14.560
Um, and, uh, defense obviously is doing everything in their power to not get this in, uh, for
00:50:24.560
Um, so yeah, yeah, there was no trial yesterday guys, because it was a federal holiday with
00:50:30.560
Uh, mine, what you know about shake, what your mama gave you.
00:50:43.560
So do me a favor guys, go ahead and like the video, man.
00:50:49.560
Also, I'm drinking some, uh, gorilla mine right here.
00:50:52.560
Go ahead and, uh, make sure to check them out on.
00:50:55.560
Um, gorilla mine, use the code fresh at, um, at checkout, man, to get a discount for any
00:51:02.560
Shout out to Derek from more plates and more dates.
00:51:06.560
Um, but, uh, yeah, guys, impromptu stream today.
00:51:10.560
Uh, I pretty much saw that this FBI agent was going to testify with, um, you know, with
00:51:16.560
what's going on as far as, uh, this case with the cell phone location data.
00:51:19.560
And that's obviously very important because that's, what's going to put Melly at the scene.
00:51:23.560
So this is critical evidence for the prosecution.
00:51:25.560
Cause at this point, um, they haven't been able to a hundred percent definitively say that,
00:51:33.560
They could kind of put them at the scene, right?
00:51:34.560
Because this surveillance footage right here, which I'll actually show y'all that they showed.
00:51:44.560
Matter of fact, and it's back on screen for you guys.
00:52:10.560
So you can see here, this is sack chaser, right?
00:52:14.560
This is, uh, the guy that was sitting in the front seat from the photograph.
00:52:41.560
This is in Fort Lauderdale, I think after they finished recording.
00:52:51.560
I think this is actually YW Portland right here.
00:52:53.560
He's going to get in the driver's seat if I'm not mistaken.
00:53:23.560
But they were there, I guess, at the studio at the same time.
00:53:28.560
But I know the police interviewed these guys and they all gave conflicting stories.
00:53:32.560
So here you see, here's Melly right here, guys.
00:53:39.560
And they actually mentioned this in the criminal complaint.
00:53:44.560
Is that indicative of potentially something being inside of it?
00:54:27.560
So that could be where the gun was, which they never recovered.
00:54:47.560
So that's one of the murder victims right there.
00:54:58.560
And let me enlarge it for y'all so we can really look at this.
00:55:05.560
There's one of the individuals that they were talking about on the phone.
00:55:18.560
Who was the driver that brought them to the hospital after they were shot.
00:55:22.560
And claimed that they had been shot in a drive by shooting.
00:55:27.560
And this is them coming out of a music studio, by the way, guys.
00:55:57.560
Looks like something is weighing down his satchel.
00:56:19.560
And YW Bortland is in the vehicle in the driver's seat.
00:56:32.560
The bullet holes were on this side of the vehicle.
00:56:37.560
So the bullets were going from this way to that way.
00:56:40.560
But Melly and Bortland claimed that the shots came this way.
00:56:44.560
Which doesn't make sense because they were shot from their left.
00:56:54.560
And this is the last time anyone saw these guys alive.
00:57:07.560
So this effectively proves that Melly was in the vehicle.
00:57:16.560
These individuals tried to say that they took Melly.
00:58:06.560
They're probably going to reconvene here in a little bit.
00:58:26.560
I figured you guys might want to get some value out of this.
00:58:30.560
You know when I saw that they brought the FBI agent in to testify from.
00:58:43.560
I'm not surprised that they're pulling out all the stops.
00:59:19.560
Jason T says the prosecutor's case is weak so far.
00:59:23.560
You gotta understand that they're building the story up.
00:59:29.560
So this case is what I would call a circumstantial case.
00:59:31.560
What circumstantial case means basically is that.
00:59:42.560
It paints a picture so that you can only come to one conclusion typically.
00:59:46.560
The only way that a case is like this is gonna make sense for everybody.
00:59:49.560
Especially when they don't have a murder weapon.
00:59:53.560
Is they're gonna have to rely heavily on the circumstantial evidence to paint the picture.
00:59:57.560
The evidence right is gonna speak for the victims.
01:00:02.560
Make sure you have to see all the pieces of evidence.
01:00:16.560
The bullet holes were coming from the right side of the vehicle.
01:00:18.560
But the wounds were on the left side of the victims.
01:00:23.560
One spun shell casing that was on the bottom floorboard where Melly was seated sitting.
01:00:44.560
But when you put it all together and stack it together.
01:00:45.560
It paints a picture that you can only come to one conclusion.
01:00:54.560
Especially since they don't have a murder weapon.
01:01:05.560
Way that you cannot come to the conclusion that Melly shot his friends.
01:01:29.560
There's no other way that it could have been done.
01:01:35.560
Also keep in mind that they lied and said that.
01:01:39.560
We were here when the phone data shows otherwise.
01:03:00.560
Let the record once again reflect the presence of our jury.
01:03:12.560
I need to resolve some of the issues before we go further. It's approaching 5 o'clock now, so my thought is I'm here to resolve it. We'll see you all back tomorrow morning.
01:03:21.560
So remember the admonition to not discuss the case, but form any opinion about the case to allow anyone to discuss the case.
01:03:28.560
Certainly no research about the case, all right? You hear that every time we break, I'll tell you that. It's very important.
01:03:35.560
So I'm sorry for these meetings. We'll see you back tomorrow at night. Thank you.
01:04:06.560
Thank you very quickly down and if you further discuss counseling, I don't believe so, especially in your college, because you're on the middle of your communication outside the presence of there's any emergencies or anything else.
01:04:29.300
Please contact my office so they can message me so that your colleagues can record that.
01:04:52.260
So it looks like they're cutting it for the day, if I'm not mistaken.
01:05:02.200
Like I said before, this case is extremely circumstantial, so they're going to need every day to paint the picture for you guys because, I mean, you know, it's a case where all the facts have to line up for it to make sense for you guys.
01:05:29.480
NSA, do they have a motive or speculation as to why?
01:05:32.200
To an injury by the name of John Tedious Withers.
01:05:38.480
A lot of people say it's money and there was a beep between Melly and his mom.
01:05:44.960
Yes, they're going to be testifying on the T-Mobile records to the individual by the name of Jameson Francois and to go to the subscriber information for Mr. Francois' phone.
01:06:09.600
So there's been testimony that Adria, or AA, is the wife of Jameson Francois.
01:06:29.660
And it is listed as TRAC and there are plenty of photographs and things of that nature that would show and illustrate that Mr. Jameson Francois, also known as TRAC, is the owner of that phone number.
01:06:49.880
And the rest of the subscriber information also says it is a family plan with multiple lines.
01:06:59.660
Rate, plan, family, unlimited, two lines and so on.
01:07:03.000
On the subscriber information for the first phone that you're suggesting is Mr. Dennis, what does that subscriber information look like?
01:07:42.360
What's on the, I don't know what the exhibit number was.
01:07:51.960
There's multiple printouts on the phone, not all of which have been integrated evidence at this point.
01:08:52.600
And then, Jeffrey, I want to get your take on things here.
01:08:54.840
Mina, we were talking about Raven Liberty, who was arguing against this evidence coming in.
01:09:02.700
And, you know, I did some background research on her and she had represented Kodak Black previously.
01:09:11.840
When I looked up her name to get some trial intake and insight on her, a lot of people were talking about not her legal acumen, but all the wrong things.
01:09:22.060
Do you think we're going to see her taking a forefront during the course of this trial or do you think she's going to be more of a background role?
01:09:33.740
I'm looking forward to her taking more of a forefront.
01:09:37.800
It's a shame that when you Google her, you know, these frivolous things come up about her body language or she's laughing too much with the defendant.
01:09:51.680
She's, as you mentioned, she's defended other celebrities as well.
01:10:00.440
Not only that, the things that she is objecting to is very important.
01:10:06.340
They made Mellie wear a turtleneck, by the way, guys, because he has the names of his victims' mothers on his neck.
01:10:11.880
According to the prosecution's opening remarks, there is an alleged text message of some sort of admission of guilt on Mellie's behalf.
01:10:22.940
And obviously that text message would have been found on the phone.
01:10:25.780
So it's very important that the defense tries to throw out whatever evidence is trying to be introduced in this case from that phone because that literally could be the nail in the coffin if they can introduce certain things from the phone.
01:10:40.400
So I'm very happy that it's her that is presenting the objection.
01:10:44.840
And I am looking forward to seeing more from her.
01:10:50.780
The evidence from the phone is very important here.
01:10:53.260
And we're talking about that text message that the prosecution is probably going to be looking to get before this jury in a very prominent way.
01:11:03.040
And, Jeffrey, I want to ask you, when you have a circumstantial case from the prosecution,
01:11:08.040
it's your job to connect the dots with various pieces of evidence in order to get that before the jury and prove your case beyond a reasonable doubt.
01:11:18.840
When you're confronted for your client with a circumstantial case from the prosecution, you want to sort of pick apart the evidence and seek to exclude whatever points of evidence that the prosecution is looking to put forth before the jury so they can't connect those dots.
01:11:39.780
What do you think the goal is for the defense with this particular piece of evidence?
01:11:44.560
And do you think if they are able to get it excluded, that's going to be a significant blow to the prosecution's case?
01:11:56.500
Number one, I want to jump back a little bit because all of this should be viewed in the context of Mellie's life as on the line.
01:12:05.380
It doesn't get any more serious in the United States of America.
01:12:07.660
And so I want to push back a little bit because when people are talking about body language and they're talking about laughing in the courtroom, they're talking about professionalism.
01:12:18.460
And you can be a good lawyer and you can still slip up.
01:12:21.680
I've seen very, very good lawyers become friendly with their clients or have a rapport with their clients, which we need to have.
01:12:31.380
Go talk to them at the jail if you want to laugh.
01:12:40.280
You are not sitting in a place where you are laughing.
01:12:43.640
This is a death penalty case and you're in a court of law.
01:12:50.960
Number two, when we're talking about the keeping this evidence out and keeping as much of the cell phone data out,
01:12:57.900
the government wants it all to go to the jury because they want the jury to get this Instagram message where he supposedly says something along the lines of, I did that, shush.
01:13:11.620
And that's why they want to tie it to him as his phone.
01:13:14.240
That's why they want to make the logical leap that this is his phone.
01:13:17.900
And that's why the defense is fighting so hard against it because it is the entire case.
01:13:23.540
Because when you're talking about circumstantial evidence, you can look the jury in the eye and tell them they have to shake hands with their conscience that they had to make a logical leap to convict your client and sentence him to death.
01:13:34.480
In a state that's going to allow them to sentence him to death without a unanimous jury.
01:13:41.600
That's why this is stuff going on in this case.
01:13:46.880
And we're going to take a quick break here at Long Crime.
01:14:01.100
Yeah, Melly has definitely displayed some strange behavior, guys.
01:14:04.100
I'll show you what I mean by this YNW Melly behavior.
01:14:16.820
YNW Melly has been pretty expressive for the camera in the courtroom.
01:14:34.420
Apparent prayers and kisses blown into the air.
01:14:37.980
YNW Melly has been pretty expressive for the camera in the courtroom.
01:14:45.320
And you can see, look, he had to hold back the laughter, guys.
01:14:54.600
And then he covers his mouth because he's smiling.
01:14:58.880
Bro, this dude is on some fucking demon time, bro.
01:15:06.640
I'm Anjanette Levy and welcome to Law and Crime's Sidebar Podcast.
01:15:10.420
We are entering the second week of the double murder trial of Jamel Demons in Broward County,
01:15:16.160
Demons, of course, is known by the stage name YNW Melly.
01:15:19.880
He's been going viral during his trial, not because of the evidence, but because of some
01:15:24.320
of the things he's done in front of the camera.
01:15:26.980
Just a quick recap to bring you up to speed if you haven't been following the case.
01:15:31.020
Demons is on trial accused of murdering two of his lifelong friends and YNW members, Anthony
01:15:36.600
Williams, known as YNW Sack Chaser, and Chris Thomas, who's known as YNW Juvie.
01:15:42.300
The two men were shot to death in the early morning hours of October 26, 2018, after four
01:15:48.660
YNW members left a late night recording session in an SUV.
01:15:53.260
The state says Melly is the trigger man that he pulled the trigger.
01:15:56.880
The defense says the prosecution can't prove it.
01:16:00.020
Melly's co-conspirator, Cortland Henry, who went by YNW Bortland, was driving the SUV that
01:16:06.660
And from what I understand, he's going to testify in this case, guys.
01:16:09.180
So if he testifies, I'm more than willing to think he's probably going to testify against
01:16:15.120
Keep in mind, guys, that he's been out of jail all this time.
01:16:27.820
Joining me to discuss the behavior of YNW Melly in the courtroom and in front of the camera
01:16:34.360
She is a frequent guest here on Law & Crime, also a defense attorney and former prosecutor.
01:16:48.520
Your first impressions of the case so far as we end week one.
01:16:59.380
It's not what exactly we expected to see at a trial, but definitely a performance on
01:17:04.160
Every day, you just never know what you're going to get from this trial.
01:17:07.320
It kind of reminds me of the Daryl Brooks trial.
01:17:11.560
Our defendant is a little more behaved, I guess, better behaved than Daryl Brooks.
01:17:20.660
So some of the moments that we've seen in this trial.
01:17:24.180
And guys, just so you know, the reason why they're pushing for the death penalty is what
01:17:28.420
That's actually one of the main things that they're using to make their case for the death
01:17:40.580
You know, they've gone viral on Instagram, TikTok.
01:17:43.000
People are turning, I know, to our social media accounts to see what is he going to do next
01:17:50.000
Go shout out to all the dads that are positive roles in their kids' life.
01:17:57.160
One of the big moments that happened during week one that really had people thinking,
01:18:05.180
And then Ellie and Gerardo goes, yo, Maren, this is my first super chat, but shout out
01:18:09.060
I want to say thank you guys for always providing value.
01:18:14.160
Kissing kind of into his hands and then it appeared he was blowing it out.
01:18:17.640
So Bernarda, it almost feels like it was like a little bit of a prayer there.
01:18:20.800
And then this kind of almost like a Zen moment and then poof.
01:18:29.680
That, you know, I should mention a lot of this is going on outside the presence of the jury,
01:18:33.500
but it's still being captured and seen everywhere.
01:18:36.220
So as you can see with Melly, a lot is going on in his mind.
01:18:40.920
In terms of the pressures that he's facing, remember that he's facing the death penalty.
01:18:47.620
So I'm sure that he was probably sending a prayer and also just asking for some peace
01:18:58.740
I think he was trying to be funny because you could see he was laughed after he covered
01:19:02.520
his mouth after he had to hold back the laughter.
01:19:04.880
So clearly he's antagonizing the victim's families because just so you guys know, the
01:19:14.940
The guy that was sitting next to Melly that got shot and one of Melly's best friends.
01:19:18.400
They all think because Melly's from Gifford, Florida.
01:19:21.480
They all think Melly did it, guys, which because Melly didn't show up to the funerals.
01:19:25.660
He didn't put anything in for there as far as like contributing to the funerals.
01:19:29.320
They pushed the funeral back for him to show up and he still didn't show up.
01:19:32.540
So just so y'all know, all the victim's families think Melly did it as well.
01:19:36.060
I think one of the things that's important to keep in mind here and in kind of preparing
01:19:40.860
for this trial, I watched a lot of interviews and videos of Melly and I remember him talking
01:19:46.240
about kind of like these two kind of personalities within him.
01:19:50.260
Melly, who's kind of chill and Melvin, who was more protective, I guess, or maybe had
01:19:58.160
And maybe there's just a lot going on within him, as you mentioned, that we don't know
01:20:06.300
The funeral was the funeral was when he was out, guys.
01:20:09.660
And remember, they didn't I don't think they picked him up until February of 2019.
01:20:15.860
He was out for a few months before they went and arrested him.
01:20:18.000
I even talked to one interview about having more than two personalities, more than the
01:20:23.840
So do you think that might be part of what is going on here?
01:20:30.060
You got to think for a defendant, for a person that is on trial, especially a person that's
01:20:36.260
There are a lot of pressures and a lot of things to think about.
01:20:39.260
And as a defendant, you're sitting there and you have to be quiet.
01:20:42.460
You can't respond to what's going on in the courtroom.
01:20:45.480
And he's just listening to everything that is being said, everything that is going on
01:20:50.960
So he's trying to get some peace in his mind or try to lay things out or get some understanding.
01:20:58.560
And it's like you never know what his personality or his just his mental health.
01:21:05.160
And that's just for anyone that could be standing trial, especially when their life is on the line.
01:21:11.760
Most of us cannot understand what it's like to be in that position.
01:21:15.580
Most of us have not been charged with serious crimes and murder is the most serious crime
01:21:22.880
In a lot of courtrooms, Bernarda, there are strict rules about decorum.
01:21:27.540
And when a defendant can say things, of course, they can always talk with their attorneys.
01:21:33.620
I've been in courtrooms before where the defendant can't, you know, they might be able to look
01:21:37.840
to their family or they maybe give them a nod or a wave when they come in.
01:21:42.540
But this there's been some video that we've captured of him kind of motioning to the gallery
01:21:55.040
Is this just him being a young guy, maybe doing this to his family?
01:22:02.840
So, you have to think this is going at the end of the case when the court is done for
01:22:07.220
the day or even right before lunch, before their break, or actually any time there is
01:22:12.060
So, in terms of ordering the courtroom, that is all up to the judge.
01:22:16.120
The judge determines what the order is going to be, what's going to be the decorum of the
01:22:20.820
Some judges do not allow the defendant to turn around from their seat or to actually
01:22:30.680
But in terms of his actions right now, it's quite common.
01:22:34.300
He wants to turn around and take a look at his family, his friends, or his supporters
01:22:38.400
and just let them know that he appreciates their support.
01:22:41.640
And this is all out of the presence of the jury.
01:22:43.980
That's the most important thing you have to think about.
01:22:46.340
Is the jury present in the courtroom when these actions are taking place?
01:22:53.040
And we haven't really seen him, at least I haven't noticed him doing these things in
01:22:59.500
One of the things we did notice on Thursday was him doing something, you know, he's a musician.
01:23:08.520
And it appeared that he was kind of like maybe thinking about some music, bopping his head.
01:23:15.380
Again, this is him trying to get some peace in his mind.
01:23:26.600
Bopping to music when your life is on the line and you're facing a murder trial?
01:23:31.740
So to him, this may be the common effect that he needs in order to continue with this trial
01:23:41.320
Again, the difference is, was the jury present when he was doing this?
01:23:45.520
And it's not disturbing the courtroom or the proceedings.
01:23:47.800
So I don't see a judge calling him out on these actions of him bopping his head.
01:23:51.960
But I'm sure if the jury was present, they may be asking themselves, what is going on in
01:23:57.760
But they probably also know that he is a musician.
01:24:03.320
They wouldn't know this, but I saw an interview of him one time talking about how he wrote
01:24:08.380
Murder on My Mind while he was doing time on another charge.
01:24:13.020
So involving a firearm and firing a gun near a school.
01:24:19.320
But even though it's not in front of the jury, there's still a camera in there.
01:24:25.700
Because these images are being seen out on the Internet.
01:24:37.100
Yeah, but you got to think, well, other people are concerned about the camera and they're
01:24:44.280
And the reason it doesn't matter is because the people outside of the courtroom, they're
01:24:50.360
What matters is what those 12 people that are sitting listening to the evidence, what
01:24:54.880
they think, what's going on, how they are evaluating his actions inside of the courtroom.
01:24:59.720
So in terms of the camera, I'm not concerned about it.
01:25:04.580
Of course, he knows that this is being aired out into the public, into the media.
01:25:09.620
But that same video captions are not being presented in front of the jury.
01:25:14.380
Bernarda, one thing that has caught the attention of some people is the fact that Mellie seems
01:25:19.960
One person described it as him flirting with the camera.
01:25:35.700
Yeah, it's never a good look, man, when you're smiling at the camera, when you're on
01:25:41.080
I think part is probably out of nervousness and try to calm himself down.
01:25:47.980
What I'm curious to see is whether he's been evaluated for any kind of mental health issues
01:25:56.240
But of course, he has to be competent to be able to go forward with trial.
01:26:00.260
But I'm curious whether that examination was done, whether there was any concern as to his
01:26:06.820
I'm curious about that, too, especially when I watched some of these interviews that he
01:26:13.980
I wondered when he was talking about Mellie versus Melvin.
01:26:17.360
Also, how many people I mean, I can't imagine being on trial for double murder and not being
01:26:25.240
So how much of this is putting on a show, putting on a front?
01:26:33.560
But also, you have to think there's so many different things that are playing here.
01:26:37.920
One thing we have to remember, of course, he's a young man.
01:26:43.380
He does have fame in the sense of he has a lot of fans.
01:26:46.560
So he may want to portray himself in a certain way for the fans.
01:26:50.140
But also have to balance it out that I'm on trial for my life here.
01:26:53.620
So try to get some calmness and being able to proceed day in and day out.
01:26:58.380
But I think the power is in the defense attorney and speaking to him and let him know, like,
01:27:06.940
All your actions are being seen and not just in front of the jury, but also on the camera.
01:27:13.420
And I think that's what the defense attorney has to do every day is remind him, like, look,
01:27:17.900
not only is the jury watching you, but also the cameras are watching you.
01:27:21.680
And I think that's the power struggle that Mellie's having with himself.
01:27:25.960
It's like, wait, I'm a rapper, but I'm also on trial for my life.
01:27:29.360
One thing, Bernarda, that some people pointed out to us is that Mellie appears to smell himself
01:27:37.760
And there was one moment in particular on Thursday that really caught the attention of
01:27:45.720
Obviously, you know, this is something people on social media are talking about.
01:28:08.320
So you got to think with Mellie, he's not really paying attention that the camera is
01:28:13.020
completely videotaping every little thing that he's doing.
01:28:16.560
I don't think he's thinking about it each and every second.
01:28:19.080
So he had a personal moment and just had to check out and make sure that it wasn't him.
01:28:24.940
Yeah, I think we've all had one of those moments where you're like, oh, I smell something.
01:28:31.820
But it did seem to catch fire a little bit on Twitter, that particular clip.
01:28:36.380
Another thing that people have pointed out is the fact that he kind of chit chats toward
01:28:42.340
And I feel like, Bernarda, in that particular clip, he looked kind of annoyed and irritated.
01:28:48.260
So something kind of caught his attention or caught his ire, and he's obviously talking
01:28:55.620
Yeah, it looks like something transpired or something may have been mouthed to him that
01:29:01.320
Now, in terms of how the defense attorney is responding, the defense attorney has to be
01:29:07.160
Again, if it is in front of the jury, her reaction, how she's reacting to her client.
01:29:13.240
Because remember, you don't want to give off to the jury that, one, it's like maybe you're
01:29:18.300
too close to the client, or two, that you're scared of the client or uncomfortable with the
01:29:23.700
There's a lot that the defense attorney has to be mindful of because it all depends, again,
01:29:29.760
how is the jury receiving these types of interactions.
01:29:32.820
But that particular interaction wasn't in front of the jury.
01:29:35.580
But I'm just talking in general when the jury is present.
01:29:39.120
So you think all of this outside the presence of the jury is much ado about nothing.
01:29:44.560
Maybe the fans see it on social media, but, you know, your thoughts.
01:29:51.300
All of this that's going on outside of the presence of the jury, I would not pay it no
01:29:57.620
It doesn't matter in the sense of that the jury is not present.
01:30:00.520
And the jury is ultimately the ones that are going to make the ultimate decision as to
01:30:04.680
his guilt and whether the death penalty should be placed in this case.
01:30:09.320
He should be given the death penalty outside of the presence of the jury.
01:30:12.520
I'm not concerned as long as he's not acting disrespecting the court in the sense that the
01:30:17.460
judge may hold him in contempt or that he can say or do something outside of the presence
01:30:23.640
of the jury that can possibly be used against them at trial.
01:30:29.540
Bernarda, there's been a lot of chatter on social media, on the YouTube chat about the
01:30:37.960
And she seems to be almost kind of like motherly toward him.
01:30:43.240
There's a lot of giggling and laughing going on.
01:30:46.020
So I'm kind of wondering what your thoughts are about that.
01:30:49.300
So my thoughts in regards to that as a criminal defense attorney, as a former prosecutor, is that
01:30:54.480
it's possible that the criminal defense attorney can be chiming in and in a sense of like rubbing
01:30:59.220
him and talking to him and seem very close to him in front of the jury to try to show
01:31:03.700
the jury like, look, this is not a guy that's capable of killing two people.
01:31:08.000
Like this is a guy I'm comfortable with talking to, to sitting next to, to actually putting
01:31:12.700
my hand on him to make, to let him know that it's going to be okay.
01:31:16.160
So this can actually all be an act in front of the jury so they can take that into account.
01:31:21.260
Because remember, the jury's observing everything that's going on.
01:31:24.140
Yeah, they're trying to humanize him because obviously the murder that he's being accused
01:31:29.720
I mean, he shot them both at close range, right, allegedly.
01:31:33.880
If you guys saw like the, some of the photographs of the inside of the vehicle, it was not nice.
01:31:41.420
And this can be just a show of the defense part.
01:31:44.600
But also on the flip side, this can also be the defense attorney has been working with
01:31:49.840
Mellie for, for years now, and that she's gotten close to Mellie.
01:31:56.080
And this is why they're so close to each other.
01:31:58.620
But as long as they keep it professional and they're tending to what's going on in the courtroom,
01:32:05.060
So it could be a lot of strategy going on with this.
01:32:07.540
I mean, it could be genuine, but also there could be a strategy, a strategic kind of thing going
01:32:15.280
I will make it strategic, especially when you're talking about two people, two murders
01:32:20.500
You want to try to portray and also humanize Mellie for this jury.
01:32:25.040
And that's the way of doing it without actually speaking to the jury.
01:32:29.920
And really people forget there is a bit of stagecraft that goes into these things.
01:32:36.440
You're not wrong at all when it comes to being a trial attorney.
01:32:39.520
And if you're an excellent trial attorney, you have to know that everything, it is a
01:32:47.200
From the moment you leave your house in the morning and every single second that you're
01:32:54.080
So here's some of the footage, photographs from the crime scene, guys.
01:33:04.600
As y'all can see, here's the bullet, um, the bullets, right, on the right-hand side of
01:33:12.340
Even though we know the wounds came from the left-hand side, right?
01:33:17.640
And then, this is the front passenger seat where one of the victims was found, sack
01:33:31.580
That's the back seat, uh, where Chris was found.
01:33:36.100
Going forward again, what are we looking at in this image?
01:33:39.580
Show, and you know, um, items of interest that will be later be collected.
01:33:47.160
And y'all can see the blood, all the blood here, right?
01:33:54.500
The name of the individual who rented this vehicle.
01:34:11.260
I think this was like day one or day two of the trial right here, right?
01:34:14.660
And they're doing, you know, the bullet trajectory analysis, et cetera.
01:34:18.920
So, um, yeah, man, very violent stuff, very violent stuff.
01:34:21.920
Um, so guys, uh, I think I'm going to wrap this thing up here in a second.
01:34:28.600
They're an organized crime group of serial killers, cannibals, rapists, and necrophils.
01:34:39.640
I mean, they're making money right now, broadcasting it everywhere.
01:34:42.000
If he has two personalities that he's crazy and not fit for trial, I think that's more
01:34:47.140
Uh, cause clearly he is competent to stand trial, hence why they're having the trial.
01:34:51.080
Um, but yeah, guys, I'll probably do another live, uh, maybe tomorrow during the day, um,
01:34:56.220
before we do fresh and fit, uh, for this trial, if I got time, but yeah, man, I figured I'd
01:35:01.500
Uh, it kind of sucks cause the FBI agent went and took the stand and then the defense immediately
01:35:04.800
came in and tried to, you know, stop his testimony and say, Oh no, we don't want this
01:35:09.460
Cause he was going to talk about the phone location data.
01:35:11.480
But, uh, but yeah, if you guys enjoyed this stuff, I'll do more of it.
01:35:14.400
Um, where, you know, I'm live streaming the trials, which you guys are pausing and explaining
01:35:18.240
Cause I know it could be kind of difficult to, um, to understand at times.
01:35:22.300
And then also, uh, the courtroom has like really shitty audio.
01:35:26.320
Like it's really fucking shitty and hard to make out what they're saying sometimes.
01:35:28.860
So I have to really pay attention and then, you know, tell you guys, uh, back what
01:35:36.120
Don't forget to like the video, subscribe to the channel.
01:35:37.820
If you haven't already, I'm going to get ready here and hit the gym here in a bit.
01:35:41.780
I'll be back more than likely either tomorrow for FEDA or definitely for Fresh and Fit at
01:35:46.700
We're going to have, uh, uh, we're going to have a special guest on tomorrow.
01:35:51.860
Hope you guys enjoyed this impromptu FEDA reacts, man.
01:35:58.520
I'm a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations.
01:36:02.900
Defender Jeffrey Williams and associate YSL did commit the felony.