Prosecutors have shared one of the reasons for the delay in the Jam Master Jay murder case. The Run-DMC member, born Jason Mizell, was shot to death in a Queens recording studio in 2002. In a new 34-page court filing, prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York said defendants, Karl Jordan, Jr. and Ronald Washington—who were charged in the killing—have attempted to “intimidate and silence potential witnesses.”
“The government is aware of at least four separate witnesses that the defendants have endeavored to identify and silence through threats and coercion,” the prosecution told a federal judge. The motion that Jordan filed last month, he claimed that “hauling him into court” after such long delays would cripple his defense.
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Witnesses willing to testify on his behalf are no longer available. Jordan also said that cell phone records that could verify his alibi are gone. “The government may properly delay an indictment for legitimate considerations, including the need to gather and review evidence in a complex investigation,” prosecutors explained in the filing.
“That is what occurred here, and the interval between the offense and the indictment was necessary for the government to prove the charged crimes beyond a reasonable doubt.” In addition, the filing also encourages the court to disregard Jordan’s request for a separate trial, due to comments that Washington allegedly made to investigators and a reporter from Playboy magazine.
The article was entitled “The Last Days of Jam Master Jay.” “At present, the government has no intention of introducing either the March 3, 2003 statement to law enforcement or the December 2003 statement to Playboy magazine. This effectively moots defendant Jordan’s severance motion on these grounds,” prosecutors clarified.
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