A mistrial was declared in YNW Melly’s double murder case. What happens now?

On Saturday (July 22), YNW Melly's case was declared a mistrial. While this means that the 12-person jury was unable to reach a decision on the Florida rapper's guilt, the case is far from over.

Born Jamell Maurice Demons, YNW Melly was charged with two counts of first-degree murder of Anthony Williams (a.k.a. YNW Sakchaser) and Christopher Thomas Jr (a.k.a. YNW Juvy), who were killed in October 2018. Melly was arrested in February 2019 and pleaded not guilty to both counts. Under Florida law, he faces the death penalty if convicted.

After three days of deliberations in a trial that began in June, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. Now, experts are saying a retrial with a new jury is likely the next step.

"Without knowing any of the facts of the case, I would think that based on this type of charge, the state will likely retry this case and hope that they have better luck next time in front of a jury," board-certified criminal trial lawyer Gregory Salnick of Florida-based firm Salnick Law, P.A. told The FADER.

While the attorney has no ties to The State of Florida v. Jamell Demons, he explained what comes next: "Under Florida law, when a mistrial is declared, the State Attorney's Office —which in other states are called the district attorney's office — they have 90 days to bring the matter back to trial. During these 90-day periods, the State Attorney's Office has the ability to weigh the evidence in your case."

Even if a trial date gets set for 90 days from now, the prosecutor and defendant can still work out a deal, Salnick added. "But if this is a death penalty case, there's not gonna be any resolution," he said. "This is a case that's likely going to have to be tried. Whatever decision is rendered, is going to have to be unanimous one way or the other."

Criminal Lawyer Bruce Rivers said the same. "In all likelihood, they're going to have to try this case again," he said in his latest YouTube video. The mistrial also does not mean that Melly will be automatically released; the chances of that, Rivers said, are slim to none. "Where does Melly go? He sits in jail like he has been this whole time. This is a high high high profile case—he ain't getting out, period."

If the state continues to seek the death penalty, Demons's case will have two phases: one to decide whether or not he's guilty, which would require a unanimous verdict, and the vote for capital punishment. As of April of this year, Florida has allowed the death sentence with an 8-4 jury vote.