G.Dep’s Attorney Says There Are Inconsistencies in the Murder Case

Handcuffed with his hands behind his back and wearing a black shirt and blue jeans, Trevell "G. Dep" Coleman was escorted into Part 51 of the Supreme Criminal Court on 100 Centre Street in Lower Manhattan, New York, on Wednesday (April 11) to continue his murder trial. Just three minutes after his arrival at 10:27 a.m., 14 jurors of mixed ethnicities filled their seats with Coleman's father, Willie Goines, and wife, Crystal Sutton, looking on in attendance.

Day two of Coleman's murder trial presented both the prosecution and defense examining and cross-examining three witnesses that took the stand, including David Feliciano; the 25th Precinct detective is who Dep made the startling confession to in December 2010 that he'd shot a man in a botched robbery attempt back in 1993. G. Dep and his attorney, Anthony Ricco—who told XXL he believes there are many inconsistencies and loopholes in the case, like the description Dep gave to the detective on the man he shot at and that of John Henkel, the actual murder victim— are hoping that lack of evidence proves G is being linked to the wrong victim. "He's not even sure if the person he said he shot actually got shot," the lawyer told jurors.

Both Manhattan Assistant District Attorney David Drucker and Ricco took turns grilling Feliciano. "Did you ask him why he was coming forward?" Ricco fired at Feliciano on the stand. "He was coming forward because the incident was bothering him and stayed on his mind," retorted Feliciano.

"At any step along the way, he could have walked out?" Ricco asked while his hands rested on Coleman's heavy-hearted shoulders. "That's correct, sir," Feliciano responded.

Ricco also unearthed possible inconsistencies when he asked Feliciano if he took notes on the cold December night that Coleman came to the 25th Precinct to confess. Feliciano first said that he didn't remember if he took notes, only to follow that by saying he first moved Coleman to a quieter room in the Precinct and then turned in a written account of his conversation with Coleman two months later.

Another key witness was Julio Cardona, a 43-year-old former resident of the Johnson Projects in Harlem, where the murder was committed. Cardona proceeded to recount how he saw one White male, two African American males seconds apart, followed by two "dark-skinned Hispanic" males suspiciously riding around on their bicycles. What followed he said was "three distinctive loud bangs" and the White male's bloody body left for dead on Park Avenue.

When asked by XXL last spring why he confessed to the robbery-turned-murder after 17 years in an exclusive interview conducted on Rikers Island, G. Dep said: “I didn’t feel like I could keep going on, living my life—indulging in life and feeling the highs and lows and just basking in what I thought was a good life—knowing what I did affected someone else’s life.”

While Ricco attempts to prove that there are some discrepancies in the witnesses' stories, on Tuesday —the first day of the trial— Drucker said the key evidence came from the “most reliable” source: the rapper himself.

Ricco confirmed to XXL that after Wednesday's lunch break, the video from Coleman's chilling December 2010 admission was going to be shown to the jury when the trial resumed in the second half of the day.

Check back with XXLMag.com for updates on the G. Dep murder trial.—Mark Lelinwalla

G. Dep's murder trial began Tuesday (April 10) in New York's Supreme Criminal Court and XXL is on deck, following the case. Check back with XXLMag.com daily for the latest updates.

Day 1: G. Dep’s Murder Trial Begins With Opening Statements