Yella Beezy trial continues | Dallas News Live

Well, the murder-for-hire trial for Yella Beezy expected to wrap up this week. The Dallas rapper accused of hiring a hitman to kill his rival, Melvin Noble, who went by Moe 3. The gunman, Kwon White, was convicted of capital murder for Noble's death. Now, Monday, a detective testified that White would livestream conversations about the case while in jail. The prosecution then rested its case. The defense called its first witness a record-label employee who worked closely with Conway. The rapper could face life in prison if convicted. Joining us now to talk about all of this, attorney Sean Deridia. And, Sean, let's start with this morning's testimony. Defense putting its case early this morning, at least, through a relative of Yella Beezy? Absolutely. Before we get to the relative, you mentioned the record exec. I think the viewers need to know a little bit about that. That record exec was a crucial defense witness. What she went over, she explained why Yella Beezy withdrew the $40,000, right? So this is a capital murder for hire. That $40,000, the state has to link that $40,000 as payment for that murder. She told the jury that $40,000 was withdrawn because of expenses. He traveled between California and Dallas. The record label wanted him to move to California. And I think one of the more important things she brought out was the reason why he returned right out shortly after the death of Moe 3. Yella Beezy returned to Dallas for a specific reason. It was to visit his mother. And all that came out through this record executive. Thank you, Des. Today, the defense is really going through relatives, family. What the defense is really building from what I can see is they're trying to show that there was a beef between these two rappers, but it wasn't something that he was looking to commit a murder, right? Nothing in his life was, no one knew that this was going to happen, right? Like this wasn't something that was known to the community. It just happened. And it kind of goes more towards the lens that... Keywan White committed this murder and maybe he thought afterwards that he would get paid for being loyal. But let's go back to let's go back to the testimony of Lynn Scott yesterday afternoon. I want to ask you more about that because one of the things there was a moment where she said she was questioned about texting him on the day of the murder texting. Yella Beezy, who was in California, and she said the text was about we need to have a plan to respond to this. And the cross-examination by the prosecution said, Why would you text him? What kind of plan did you need? What was that about? How did she respond to that? Well, Sean, she responded to that by saying that we had to have a response to the shooting of Moe Three. And I believe at that time, Moe Three had not even been pronounced dead yet. So I think what the state was showing was, hey, Yella Beezy potentially has something to do with this murder, even as record executive knew of it. But I think the way she responded, what the defense kind of showed was I mean, this is the entertainment business. This is what happens. I mean, even if you look at it with, you know, whether it's political, with music stars, TV, that's part of it, right? And it's a rap feud. People want to know about it. And again, she's a music executive, right? Her job is for publicity. It's to make money. And while I do believe her... Those text messages perhaps made herself and Yella Beezy look immoral and made them look like they didn't have compassion for someone who had just been shot and killed. That's not the same thing as capital murder. That isn't proof that they intentionally, knowingly... Set out a hit to kill Moe Three. So while it did make them make Yella Beezy, perhaps look like he didn't have the compassion or care for someone. I don't think it mapped up showing that he committed this murder. All right, let's talk about Detective Eric Barnes. He was the key witness for the state, both in the Kwan White trial and now against Yella Beezy and through him. Prosecutors wanted to bring into evidence a Kiwan White jail call, where he tells a third party, someone else, not talking to Yella Beezy, but tells someone else, quote, that he just got paid 20 bands. Bands, of course, referring to 20 bands of money or rolls of money, but the judge wouldn't allow it, saying it didn't meet the standard. How big is that ruling? It was out of the presence of the jury, but still, how big is it? Well, it's hearsay, so it wouldn't come in unless they could get Kiwan White to come in and say that. Honestly, Sean, even if he had come in, he got 20 bans. He didn't name anyone. He didn't name Yella Beasley. And that was another thing. Honestly, if you heard Detective Barnes towards the end of his testimony, he spoke and he talked about how this indictment for Yella Beasley happened because of Jose Bodega and how he had spoken so much with Jose Bodega and how that was so crucial. But you know what the jury didn't hear? They didn't hear any of those recordings between Jose Bodega and Detective Barnes. So the jury's left with a picture saying, what did they discuss, right? Like, why don't we know what happened? And, you know, I think I was honestly expecting Detective Barnes, who I think is a great detective, I was expecting him to go for at least another week, maybe even two weeks. When I found out yesterday towards 4 p.m. that they had taken him off and the state arrested, I was shocked. I was honestly blown away, taken away. I couldn't believe it because I believe his testimony Left so many holes. It didn't really map up or line anything up. And I think what the defense is doing is they're going back and they're attacking. The state's argument, but what I do feel may happen now is this may be an opportunity for the prosecution to get back on their feet, because as the defense witnesses testify, if a witness says something, it can potentially open the door. If a witness says a certain answer, it could open the door. Perhaps that jail call that was suppressed by the judge potentially could come in. It just depends on all the factors. So this is kind of the prosecution's chance to get Get this case back. And we need to remind folks, Jose Bodega's real name is Theodore Thomas. And the reason they didn't hear from him is because he pled the fifth. And when he did, once getting immunity from the prosecution, from the DA's office, when he did testify, he said he lied in his testimony before the grand jury. And he cried about it because he was telling the truth now. So a lot to sort through as this trial moves forward, maybe wrapping by end of week. Criminal defense attorney Sean Deridia, thank you. For joining us on Dallas News Live today, my friend. Thank you for having me on, Sean. All right, sir.