Prosecutors contend the rapper’s lyrics, public statements and evidence connected to earlier shootings help establish a motive for the 2020 killing of MO3, whose legal name was Melvin Noble.
Attorneys for Yella Beezy, whose legal name is Markies Conway, argue his music doesn’t document Noble’s killing, that his lyrics are artistic expression rather than literal admissions and that presenting them to jurors would unfairly prejudice them against Conway and penalize protected speech.
State District Judge Chika Anyiam didn’t indicate Friday when she would rule on the issue.
Conway has pleaded not guilty to capital murder. Prosecutors allege he hired Kewon White to kill Noble in November 2020 after a yearslong public feud between the two Dallas rappers. White, Devin Brown and Jerry Johnson have also been charged in connection with Noble’s killing.
Anyiam announced Friday that White will be the first of four defendants charged in Noble’s death to stand trial. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Aug. 24.
Attorneys for Conway, White and Brown told the judge they would all be prepared for trial next month if plea agreements or other developments change the order.
White’s attorneys asked Anyiam to try Conway first, arguing his trial could produce evidence, including bank statements and other financial records, that could aid White’s defense. They said they don’t currently have access to the records, Conway’s attorneys aren’t required to provide them and prosecutors haven’t obtained them.
“If we go first, Kewon White is at a disadvantage,” defense attorney Myra McIntosh told Anyiam.
Prosecutors opposed changing the trial order. Dallas County prosecutor Tommy Adams called the request a “delay tactic” and argued White, as the alleged shooter, should be tried first. He noted White has been in custody since December 2020 and said White previously posted on social media that he wouldn’t go to trial in Noble’s killing.
White was sentenced in 2022 to 105 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. The federal charge stemmed from an August 2020 police pursuit in Lancaster, about three months before Noble was killed.
“I have a family here that deserves justice,” Adams said.
Anyiam said the information before the court supported keeping White first in the trial order.