Prosecutor accused detective in YNW Melly case of lying. She’s now a defense witness
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The double murder trial of rapper YNW Melly
The double murder trial of rapper YNW Melly, whose legal name is Jamell Demons, has had many twists and turns since the South Florida artist was accused of killing his childhood best friends Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. in 2019.
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A prosecutor who said she witnessed wrongdoing by the lead detective in YNW Melly’s double murder case shed more light on the incident in an interview with the defense, according to court records.
Michelle Boutros, a Broward prosecutor of 20 years assigned to the Public Corruption Unit, on Friday recounted the events of the October 2022 incident and accused Miramar Police Detective Mark Moretti of unethical behavior. Defense attorneys filed the transcripts of Boutros’ interview on Monday to support their efforts to dismiss the case.
READ MORE: YNW Melly’s lawyers urge judge to throw out rapper’s double murder case. Here’s why
Melly, 24, whose real name is Jamell Demons, is accused of gunning down his childhood friends Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. in a drive-by cover-up after spending the night of Oct. 26, 2018, at a Fort Lauderdale recording studio. Williams and Thomas, both aspiring rappers with the YNW collective, were known as YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy, respectively.
Melly is among the first defendants to go to trial after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law to lower the threshold for a death sentence to an 8-4 jury vote, from the previous requirement for a unanimous vote.
In late August, defense attorneys learned that Moretti was ”under investigation” for an incident involving excessive use of force against a potential witness. They accused prosecutor Kristine Bradley of a Brady violation, or concealing information favorable to the defense, for allegedly not divulging details about an incident involving Moretti.
Under Florida law, prosecutors are required to disclose any information that may be favorable to the defense. The discovery of Brady violations, in some cases, have even led to overturned convictions.
Bradley, in court documents, said that Moretti was taking a statement from Jamie King, Melly’s mother, in a conference room on the seventh floor of the Broward courthouse. Prosecutor Boutros, King’s attorney Robert Trachman and Broward Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jason Hendrick were present at the time.
At some point, Hendrick stepped out, and Moretti executed a search warrant for King’s phone, according to Bradley’s filing.
Shortly after, BSO deputy Adam Gorel arrived at the conference room. Moretti, according to prosecutor Boutros, subsequently told Gorel that he should say he was present when he executed the search warrant.
Moretti later asked Gorel whether he was there when the phone was taken, and Gorel said something along the lines of: “I can be if you needed me to be,” according to court records.
According to a filing by Christopher Killoran, a prosecutor with the Public Corruption Unit, Moretti told Bradley that the statement he made to Gorel — and Gorel’s response — were merely jokes. In a later filing, Bradley said she inaccurately relayed that she spoke with Moretti about this incident, and the detective explained it off as a joke.
But what did Boutros say happened?
In 2022, Boutros was first contacted by Bradley for a possible tampering investigation into Jamie King, Melly’s mother. That’s why she was present when Moretti questioned King.
King was accused of tampering with two witnesses: Mariah Hamilton, Melly’s ex-girlfriend, and Felicia Holmes, Hamilton’s mother. Holmes ultimately took the stand in the first trial and told defense attorney Stuart Adelstein that she felt threatened by Bradley.
Melly’s co-defendant Cortlen Henry, who was out on bond pending his trial, was arrested Monday night in Miami-Dade on witness tampering charges. He’s being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a warrant.
When detailing the incident with Moretti, Boutros said she was unaware that Moretti was going to serve the search warrant during the interview. She confirmed that no deputy was present at the time.
“Obviously I don’t want to be a party to the service of a search warrant because things happen when you become witnesses, as it did in this situation,” she told defense attorneys.
When Moretti tried to seize the phone, King grabbed it and “was doing something,” she said. A scuffle quickly ensued.
The detective then pulled the phone from King’s hands, and she screamed, Boutros said. She didn’t see exactly what happened, but she noted that King had an injury on her hand.
“It was very uncomfortable, to say the least,” she told defense attorneys.
Boutros said she doesn’t recall Gorel saying anything else, but if he did, it was “nothing of substance and nothing directed towards Detective Moretti’s request, his solicitation to have him lie.”
The prosecutor said she reported Moretti’s statement to Christopher Killoran, her supervisor who’s also on the Public Corruption Unit, and informed Miramar Police’s internal affairs sergeant.
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“I told Mr. Killoran that I would no longer work on this case, and I would no longer work with Detective, and that I wanted to discuss it with administration.”
Boutros said she didn’t know when top officials at the State Attorney’’s Office spoke with Bradley, but said they did days after her report — a year ago.
“I don’t know if there were other conversations that took place at that time with [Bradley] about disclosure,” Boutros told defense attorneys. “I just know that when I spoke with administration they were equally upset about what happened and equally concerned about how to handle it from that point forward.”
The first time Boutros heard about the incident since then, she said, was in July, when Miramar Police’s internal affairs sergeant reached out to interview her. State Attorney Harold Pryor instructed Boutros to give a statement and “tell the truth.”
After tuning into a September hearing in Melly’s case, Boutros reignited the conversation about turning over more information on the incident to the defense. She said she “forcefully interjected” herself in the Brady issue, and the State Attorney’s Office discussed a possible criminal probe into Moretti — and the legal ramifications of his alleged actions.
Boutros said she expressed to Killoran that she felt the internal affairs investigation wasn’t enough and had conversations about this with administrators as well as prosecutors in the appeals and homicide units.
“I’m not trying to get in anybody’s business or anything, but I felt like this had to do with something that happened in my presence,” she said during the questioning.
READ MORE: YNW Melly’s lawyers are challenging evidence as retrial looms. Here’s what — and why
Administrators, Boutros said, called Bradley into their offices to speak to her more about the Brady filings. Bradley told a different story: that she didn’t speak to Moretti about his comments, and that she was going to file an updated notice.
Boutros said that Pryor told Bradley that her bar license was on the line if she filed the notice.
“Unless they had conversations afterwards where she was granted permission, that was against the wishes of administration,” she told defense attorneys.
Nearing the end of the interview, the defense attorneys told Boutros that Bradley accused her of lying to others. Boutros said that she knew of a time that Bradley stormed into Killoran’s office and berated her character.
“Well, that’s OK.” Boutros said. “Again, I’m just here to speak my truth, and people are going to be mad at me.”
This story was originally published October 3, 2023 at 3:04 PM.
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