Key witness retakes stand in Yella Beezy trial

A key witness who tied Dallas rapper Yella Beezy to the murder for hire plot of another rapper recanted previous statements he made to a grand jury. He says he was under intense pressure to lie in order to avoid federal prosecution. Fox 4's Amelia Jones is live with the latest on the trial. Amelia. Steve, last week when Theodore Thomas, a.k.a. Jose Bodega, took the stand, he invoked the Fifth Amendment. Today, he was called to testify again, but he was given a deal by the state of full immunity in exchange for his testimony. However, when he took the stand, he recanted statements that he made in the grand jury indictment. This includes that he overheard a conversation about payment to Kiwan White to carry out the murder of Moe Three, whose real name is Melvin Noble. White has already been convicted of murder Thomas' statements were critical to tying rapper Yella Beezy, real name Marquise Conway, to the murder payout. Conway is accused of hiring White to murder Noble over a long-standing feud. He's pleaded not guilty to capital murder and denies any involvement. Prosecutors today targeted Thomas' credibility and brought up his relationship with Conway as the two are childhood friends. The state also showed jurors a video showing Thomas and Conway allegedly assaulting Moe Three's manager. In the past year and a half, you've never once recanted or said I lied about anything, correct? Correct. But on the Sunday before jury selection, Kiwan White, that's when you decided, you know what, I lied, right? But truth be told, when you testified in front of that grand jury, when I asked you about Jared, do you remember what you did? Yeah. What'd you do? I cried. Yeah, you cried. Because I was lying. Okay. Related to the case, the trial will resume. The judge told jurors. The judge told jurors they are only able to consider Thomas's statements as they relate to his credibility. They cannot consider his statements in deciding Conway's guilt or innocence. Prosecutors were allowed to consider him a hostile witness. Now, in cross-examination, defense attorney Toby Shook argued that Thomas' testimony in the grand jury was fabricated under intense legal pressure. Thomas responded by answering right to just about every question. Before Thomas, jurors heard from a detective, an American Airlines employee, and a jeweler on evidence related to the case. The trial resumes tomorrow at 9 a.m.