MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Trial continues for the man charged in the murder of Memphis rapper Young Dolph on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
Justin Johnson is both charged with first-degree murder, among other felonies, in the death of Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr.
Shelby County DA Steve Mulroy said Johnson is the only one currently on trial and expects the trial to be done by Sept. 26. Johnson is pleading not guilty. Cornelius Smith, also charged with first-degree murder for killing Dolph, testified against Johnson and admitted to killing Dolph on the first day of the trial.
Johnson's attorney, Luke Evans, said he anticipates Hernandez Govan, who prosecutors say ordered the hit on Young Dolph, will testify as well.
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Expert witness testimony
Deputy District Attorney Paul Hagerman called Lt. Ma’Hajj Abdul-BaaQee to the stand. He worked with the Memphis Police Department for 26 years and was assigned to the homicide unit while working the Young Dolph murder case.
Hagmerman started by making corrections to the timeline of one of the videos previously shown to court.
Abdul-BaaQee said he retrieved video of the Crosstown Concourse Apartments from Nov. 16 and Nov. 17. He confirmed he viewed the videos with security officers and they had accurate timestamps to his knowledge, but agreed one shown to the court was incorrect, which Hagerman said was a mistake on his team's part. The video showed Justin Johnson leaving his apartment and was off by an hour. Abdul-BaaQee corrected the time for this video and Hagerman called it a "mistake" on Tuesday, in which the wrong time - 11:51 a.m. - was listed on the slate before the video, an error Hagerman said came from editing together the video for court.
In cross examination, Johnson's attorney, Luke Evans asked Abdul-BaaQee about the accuracy of the videos.
Abdul-BaaQee agreed he could not watch the videos' live view from when they were originally recorded. He watched them after they were archived and compared it to current live view to determine accuracy.
Abdul-BaaQee also agreed the system could have malfunctioned without their knowledge, but he said a computer technician was present while investigators were viewing the videos and the technician said they were accurate, though Abdul-BaaQee admitted he did not ask for detailed analysis.
Expert witness speaks on phone location records of devices belonging to Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith
Hagerman next called upon Michael Garner, a current TBI personnel and former MPD employee working in digital forensics.
The court established Garner as an expert with call detail records with emphasis on location, which include cell tower information to record calls between different devices, and digital forensics.
He proceeded to go through a prepared presentation regarding an overview of cellular technology, requested information, analysis of carrier call detail records and mapping of carrier call detail records.
Garner said investigators are not able to pinpoint where a certain cell phone is located when it's making a call, but they are able to determine a precise area through a tower. Garner noted that phones will access the nearest, available tower.
Garner said he received call detail records for the phone belonging to Justin Johnson on Nov. 17, 2021, between the hours of 1 a.m. and 10 p.m. He also examined the call detail records of Cornelius Smith's phone on Nov. 17, 2021, between the hours of 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
The expert examined the locations of Crosstown Concourse Apartments, Valero gas station, the homicide scene and Gospel Gardens Apartments for Johnson's phone. The call detail records were converted to the central time-zone.
Garner said from 1 a.m. to 2:35 a.m. on Nov. 17, 2021, Johnson's phone was accessing a tower that provided coverage to the area of the Crosstown Concourse.
At 3:17 a.m., the phone connected to a tower that provided coverage for the area of the Valero gas station at Park and Highland, according to Garner.
At 4:49 a.m., the phone accessed a tower that had coverage for the Crosstown Concourse Apartments.
At 9:56 a.m., the phone connected to a tower providing coverage for the Crosstown Concourse Apartments.
At 11:30 a.m., the phone accessed a tower south of the Concourse Apartments and appeared to have already left the area of the apartments.
At 12:06 p.m. and 12:09 p.m., the phone accessed towers east of the Young Dolph homicide scene, near the Cherokee neighborhood.
At 12:17 p.m., minutes before the homicide occurred, the phone accessed a tower north of the homicide scene, near the Bethel Grove area.
At 12:22 p.m., the phone accessed a tower north of the homicide scene that could provide coverage for the homicide scene.
At 12:23 p.m., the phone accessed a tower farther north of the homicide scene. Garner said it would be impossible to determine if that tower could cover the homicide scene without doing a test. The device also accessed another tower that covered the homicide scene. Garner said it could indicate the phone was moving or traffic was just impeding connection and the phone was not moving.
From 12:58 p.m. to 1:57 p.m., the device accessed a tower that serviced the Gospel Garden Apartments, about 30 minutes after the homicide.
From 2:22 p.m. to 5:23 p.m., the phone connected with towers in the Hickory Hill area, substantially east from the Gospel Garden Apartments.
Garner then turned to Smith's phone records.
At 12:02 p.m., Smith's phone received an incoming voice call from Johnson's phone.
At 12:04 p.m., Smith's phone received an incoming voice call from Johnson's phone, from a tower east of the homicide scene.
At 12:11 p.m. and 12:51 p.m., Smith's phone did not receive phone calls. The former was near and west of the Sherwood Forest area. The latter came from the Bethel Grove area, north of the homicide scene.
At 1 p.m. and 1:47 p.m., Smith's phone access towers in the Orange Mound area, an area in which Hernandez Govan lived.
Background: What you need to know
The shooting death of Memphis rapper Young Dolph sent shockwaves throughout the Bluff City and nationwide nearly three years ago.
Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith Jr. were both charged with first-degree murder, among other felonies, in Dolph's death.
The two were originally set to head to trial June 3, 2024, but in May, the D.A.’s office said the defense counsel asked for more time for everyone’s experts to review information, and prosecutors agreed.
The trial was reset previously from March 11 to June 3, 2024. Judge Jennifer J. Mitchell took over the case after the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals ordered Judge Lee Coffee to recuse himself from the Young Dolph case.
Hernandez Govan, who prosecutors said ordered the hit on Young Dolph, is also set to stand trial Monday, Sept. 23, in Judge Jennifer Mitchell's courtroom.
This all comes after a Shelby County Judge has granted a motion for a change of venue for the trial in February. That meant an outside jury is being brought in to Shelby County to hear the case, which received heavy media attention here.
Prosecutor Paul Hagerman said the change of venue would not pose an obstacle for prosecutors.
Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr., was fatally shot at Makeda's Cookies on Airways Boulevard on Nov. 17, 2021. Police said at the time two men got out of a stolen Mercedes-Benz and fired shots into Makeda’s Homemade Cookies, where Young Dolph was making a purchase. Police released photos taken from surveillance video that captured the shooting, which they said led to the arrests.
Another suspect, Jermarcus Johnson, pled guilty to three counts of accessory after the fact in October 2023, and he faces six to 12 years in jail.
If convicted, the suspects could face life in prison without parole, which, according to attorney Leslie Ballin, is now 51 years in the state of Tennessee.