A Florida appeals court blocked digital evidence from YNW Melly’s accounts in his 2027 retrial, citing unconstitutional warrants.

A Florida appeals court has barred prosecutors from using digital evidence from rapper YNW Melly’s email and social media accounts in his 2027 retrial for the 2018 murders of two friends, ruling the warrants used to obtain the data were overly broad and violated constitutional protections. The decision upholds a 2023 lower court ruling and marks a significant win for the defense, which argued law enforcement exceeded legal limits. The excluded evidence had been central to the first trial, which ended in a hung jury. Co-defendant YNW Bortlen recently pleaded no contest to accessory after the fact, admitting to helping fabricate a drive-by shooting cover-up. Prosecutors declined to comment, and it remains unclear how the ruling will affect Melly’s bond efforts while he remains in custody since his 2019 arrest.