MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A jury found Hernandez Govan not guilty on all charges related to the murder of Young Dolph.
The trial lasted four days, starting Monday and ending with the jury’s verdict on Thursday. Testimony and closing argument concluded Wednesday, leading to 96 minutes of jury deliberation before pausing for the night and resuming Thursday morning. The jury deliberated for two hours and 45 minutes before clearing Govan of charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
The state called eight witnesses, including Young Dolph’s sister, his head of security, confessed killer Cornelius Smith, Smith’s girlfriend, the lead investigator of the case, and two men who worked with MPD as digital investigators at the time of the murder.
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Cell phone records show that Cornelius Smith and Justin Johnson, who was found guilty of Young Dolph’s murder in a previous trial, both communicated with Govan after the murder. Manny Arora, Govan’s attorney, argued that Smith frequently bought drugs from Govan, so such contact was not uncommon. He also argued that Johnson had conversations with other people about murdering Young Dolph that did not include Govan.
MPD investigators pointed out that the white Mercedes used in the murder was discovered at an abandoned house across the street from Govan’s home. A picture from a music video shows Govan in the driveway of that home on Bradley Street. Arora argued that another person tied to the case lives on the same street.
Cornelius Smith directly implicated Govan in the conspiracy during his testimony. In an interview with investigators after the murder, Smith’s girlfriend told police, “Quet set this up,” using a common nickname for Govan. Arora countered that Smith gave investigators different versions of his story, at one point saying the order to kill Young Dolph came from an apparently fictitious person named Miscellaneous, and that Smith’s girlfriend told investigators that Big Jook ordered the hit in the same audio clip where she said, “Quet set this up.”
Prosecutors argued that Smith met with Govan after the murder. Smith testified that he left his phone in the white Mercedes following the crime and met Govan at a car wash to get his phone back. Smith said Govan gave him some money and that he bought a car cover to hide the white Mercedes from AutoZone. Arora argued that no video has been produced from either the car wash or AutoZone. An MPD investigator testified that the significance of those places was not known until months after the crime, reducing the chance that video evidence would still be available.
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Arora called two witnesses on Govan’s behalf. The first, a lieutenant with the Memphis Police Department who processed the white Mercedes, testified that no evidence of bleach was found on the car. This seemingly contradicts Smith’s claims that he used bleach to wipe down the car after the crime. The other witness, the 80-year-old neighbor of Smith’s father, said that she never received any money for Smith. Smith previously testified that Johnson gave Smith’s father’s neighbor money for Smith. Prosecutors countered during closing arguments, pointing out that the money could have been given to a different neighbor.
Arora also argued that, despite allegedly ordering the hit on Young Dolph, investigators never interviewed Big Jook. A sergeant with MPD testified that investigators did attempt to speak to Big Jook at the airport, but he declined to speak with police. The sergeant said that MPD then began collecting phone records and other information on Big Jook, but never had the chance to interview him because he died in a shooting 2.5 years after Young Dolph’s murder.
Justin Johnson was automatically sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder of Young Dolph. At the time of Govan’s trial, Cornelius Smith, who cooperated with prosecutors at both trials, had not gone to trial or been sentenced. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told FOX13 that he expects to reach a plea agreement with Smith after the Govan trial, though none had been finalized prior to Govan’s trial.
In his closing remarks, Arora took aim at the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, saying, “This whole county is a freaking embarrassment in regard to this trial. The whole world is watching, and this is what we got.”
The state responded in rebuttal, saying, “Are you kidding me right now? He just called the whole city of Memphis dumb,” and, “Justin and Cornelius were put together by Hernandez Govan. He chose to ask each of them for a piece of the proceeds. He chose conspiracy. Hernandez Govan chose murder. Adolph Thornton will never get to experience many of the things we take for granted growing old… He didn’t get to choose to grow old. That was taken from him and put in motion by Hernandez Govan.”
Judge Jennifer Mitchell presided over the case. Prosecutors Irris Williams and Carla Taylor represented the state.
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