Rap mogul's murder-for-hire case in death of G-Unit member ends in mistrial
The case against the imprisoned James (Jimmy Henchman) Rosemond faced a stalemate when at least one juror refused to consider the testimonies of jailhouse witnesses. Rosemond, who has managed the likes of Brandy and The Game, is accused of hiring thugs to kill G-Unit associate Lowell Fletcher in 2009.

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BY DAREH GREGORIAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2014, 8:53 PM

DEA agents escort James (Jimmy Henchman) Rosemond after his arrest on cocaine-dealing charges on June 21, 2011, in New York. Rosemond is also accused of hiring thugs to gun down G-Unit associate Lowell Fletcher in 2009.
The murder-for-hire case against an imprisoned hip hop mogul accused of having a member of rapper 50 Cent's crew whacked ended in a mistrial on Friday after bickering jurors couldn't reach a unanimous verdict.

At least one juror had decided none of the government's cooperating jailhouse witnesses testifying against James (Jimmy Henchman) Rosemond could be believed at all, and was refusing to deliberate, another juror complained.


"On March 4th, one juror made an outright verbal statement that all people in prison are liars," and subsequently "refused to consider the testimonies and evidence of this case," the juror wrote in a note to the judge, Colleen McMahon.

The stalemate continued into Friday, leading the judge to declare a mistrial.


The cooperators "were tough witnesses," said Rosemond's lawyer, J. Bruce Maffeo. "There were contradictions in their testimony and between their testimony."

Rosemond, who's managed the likes of Brandy, The Game and Akon, was accused of hiring thugs to gun down G-Unit associate Lowell Fletcher in 2009. Prosecutors said he ordered the hit on the 33-year-old as payback for other G-Unit members having slapped Rosemond's 14-year-old son outside of a Chelsea radio station.

"Rosemond decided that for slapping his son, a member of G-Unit had to die," prosecutor Samson Enzer told jurors in his opening statements. "His goal was to make sure that members of G-Unit had to carry a coffin."

The cooperating witnesses had been members of Rosemond's gang, and Maffeo hammered away at their credibility during the trial. He noted the men, who had lengthy criminal records, had good reason to tell the prosecutors what they wanted to hear — they're facing prison sentences "that will literally keep them in prison for the rest of their lives."

The Manhattan US Attorney's office had no immediate comment on whether it would retry the case.

The mistrial doesn't mean Rosemond will be back out on the streets — he's already serving a life sentence for running a multimillion-dollar drug operation.



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