The trial for Hernandez Govan, the man alleged to be the architect behind rapper Young Dolph's murder, opened this Monday. Prosecutors are poised to weave a narrative of conspiracy leading to the violent demise of the rapper at a Memphis cookie shop. Govan faces charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted murder, according to court documents obtained by WREG.
Adolph Robert Thornton Jr., known by his stage name Young Dolph, was fatally shot on November 17, 2021. Governor's indictment over a year later solidified the narrative that the violence was orchestrated, where Govan stands accused of soliciting the assault that led to Young Dolph's untimely death. District Attorney Steve Mulroy stated this. Govan, who has a series of arrests dating back to the late 1990s, managed to post a $90,000 bond and has been out of custody since 2023, per details from Action News 5.
Prosecutors are expected to bring up the testimony from Justin Johnson's trial, during which Cornelius Smith claimed that Govan promised $50,000 each to him and Johnson for executing the hit against Young Dolph. The hit, Smith testified, was linked to a $100,000 bounty laid out by Anthony "Big Jook" Mims, the deceased brother of Memphis rapper Yo Gotti, as stated during Johnson's trial and as reported by Action News 5.
Given the profile of the trial, jurors are expected to be sequestered, limiting their contact to supervised calls to family members "one or two times a day," Michael Working, a Memphis attorney, told Local Memphis. As proceedings commence, the court is set to operate on a full-day schedule, contrary to the typical half-day sessions, accelerating the pace of the trial's progression. Working further noted, the defense will have an opening to challenge the credibility of co-defendants should they testify, stating, "It’s up to the jury to decide whether this person is part of a conspiracy and more credible, or whether they are being given a deal from the state to get less time, and that makes them less credible."
Govan, if convicted, faces a mandatory life sentence under Tennessee law for the charge of first-degree murder. His case is complicated by representation from an out-of-state attorney, adding an unpredictable element to how the proceedings will unfold in a Memphis courtroom, a dynamic noted by Working in his interview with Local Memphis.
