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YNW Melly's trial officially began on June 12, over four years after he was incarcerated for the double murder of his friends YNW Juvy and YNW SakChaser, which took place on October 26, 2018, in Miramar, Florida.
Now, amid the news of his motion for mistrial being denied, another news has gone viral on social media. Interestingly, it is about his lawyer Raven Liberty, whose mugshot from 2022 has recently gone public.
Turns out, Liberty was arrested for battery on August 25, 2022, in Miami, Florida, and had to pay a penalty of 1500 US dollars to drop all charges.
A video featuring Raven Liberty’s mugshot, collaged with her courtroom drama, was first shared by DJ Akademiks on his Instagram feed.
Raven Liberty is a Miami-based attorney who has previously worked with Kodak Black
Born Raven Ramona Liberty, YNW Melly’s attorney has been practicing law since 2004 and is based in Miami. In fact, she is regarded as one of the most successful lawyers in Florida. So far, the 48-year-old woman hailing from North Carolina has primarily dealt with foreclosure cases and rarely child custody and divorce and separation cases.
However, Liberty first came into the limelight when he represented another celebrity rapper, Kodak Black, for several of his past legal troubles such as first-degree criminal s*xual conduct in 2016, making false statements about possessing illegal weapons in 2019, and assault and battery in 2021.
Black was under probation for 18 months and was later sentenced to 46 months in prison. But thanks to Raven Liberty who pled on his behalf, the then-President Donald Trump commuted his sentence to 10 months.
Raven Liberty has also defended other hip-hop artists in various criminal cases, before representing YNW Melly in such a high-profile case.
YNW Melly’s case so far
On the first day of trial at the Florida Court on June 12, Melly still pled “not guilty,” while his attorney Raven Liberty told the jury that her client had “no reason to murder his friends.” Not only that, she further stated that the investigation by the prosecution was nothing short of “incompetent and incomplete.”
A few days after his trial began, Melly’s previous confession about having multiple personality disorders, such as being bipolar and schizophrenic also went viral on social media, inviting both criticism and empathy from netizens.
And now, as per the latest reports, his motion for mistrial has been denied.
For those unaware, YNW Melly is facing first-degree murder charges for the killings of Christopher Thomas Jr., better known as YNW Juvy, and Anthony Williams, better known as YNW SakChaser. They were 19 and 21 years old, respectively, at the time of their death on the night on October 26, 2018, in Miramar, Florida.
The allegations against YNW Melly are that he shot the duo multiple times inside the car of YNW Bortlen, better known as Cortlen Henry. The latter then staged the murders as a random drive-by-shooting.
After years of investigation, shreds of evidence of Melly and Bortlen present during the time of the double murder have been unearthed. These include surveillance footage, phone data, DNA, blood splatter reports, and bullet casings. Local police and hospital staff helped determine the timeline of the event.
YNW Melly was arrested in February 2019. If convicted, he may face life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
