A year after being handed down a life-plus-20-year sentence for the 2009 murder-for-hire plot that resulted in the death of G-Unit associate Lowell “Lodi Mack” Fletcher, one-time music mogul James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond’s conviction has been overturned, according to the New York Post.
A Second Circuit Appeals Court ruling issued today granted Rosemond a new trial, saying a Manhattan federal court judge blundered when she limited the defense’s line of questioning of a witness, Brian McCleod.
McCleod testified at the 2014 trial that Henchman never used the words “kill” or “murder” in connection with slain Bloods gang member Fletcher.
“Because the district courtʹs interpretation of the scope of the waiver provision was unduly narrow, its restrictions on Rosemondʹs ability to cross‐examine his witnesses and mount an effective defense violated the Sixth Amendment,” appeals Judge Denny Chin wrote in the 42-page ruling.
Henchman is already serving a life sentence for drug trafficking and was convicted of ordering a hit on Fletcher for slapping his 14-year-old son in 2007. His first murder trial ended in a hung jury. The US Attorney’s Office will decide whether to prosecute Rosemond a third time.
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