JELANI MARAJ: FOUND GUILTY! THE RAPE CASE TRIAL DETAILS
NICKI MINAJ’S BROTHER . . . BROTHER OF RAP STAR NICKI MINAJ . . . NICKI’S BROTHER JELANI”
They all read the same and almost as if Onika is on trial herself , which I find disgusting . It’s click-bait. Using her name to get people to read the article and to me it takes away from the larger matter at hand . The fact that a man (regardless of who his sister is ) is facing some pretty heinous allegations of repeatedly raping his 11 year old step-daughter. So I won’t do what everyone else is doing. I will give you the facts as I know them and allow you to make your own judgement and will just hold the faith that in the end , justice will be served.
- As of today, 11/9/17, Jelani Maraj has been found GUILTY of the charges against him and faces 25 years to life behind bars. His sentencing is set for December 14, 2017.
RAPE TRIAL TIMELINE:
*Some of the testimonies are highly disturbing, please proceed with that in mind. All quotes are in italics*
December 4, 2015 | Jelani Maraj arrested and charged for raping his then 11 year old step-daughter.
December 5, 2015| Released on a $100,000 bail and of course his sister picked up that tab.
Maraj didn’t see actual charges until April of 2015
Here are the charges he was indicted on : predatory sexual assault against a child, sexual conduct against a child, felony sexual conduct against a child under 13 years old and endangering the welfare of a child
The case ran for three weeks in Mineola , L.I at Nassau County Supreme Court , the presiding Judge is Robert McDonald.
October 11, 2017 | Jury selection started
October 25, 2017 | The first full day of testimonies: Dr. Aaron Miller testified that the young girl had “a tear from penetration injury” which was corroborated with examination photos that were taken from the victim. This proved that the victim was indeed having sex.
October 23, 2017 | The victim’s 10-year-old brother testified that he walked in on one of the incidents of rape. He stated that his pencil had broke and he didn’t have any others and that’s what prompted the search of his sister. He said that he found his sister and Jelani in the basement and said “ I saw his underwear close to his knees” and that his sister’s pants were “around her ankles.” Prompted by prosecutors to say what happened next he responded " I thought it wasn’t right. It looked weird to me, so I ran upstairs.” The young man also testified that when he was found he was smacked "about 10 times" in the face. The young man was threatened into silence by Jelani who told him he “wouldn’t see her again” (his mom) if he told. The little boy also said he would sometimes hear the door close to his sister’s room at night and then the bed creaking.
The defense maintained that Jelani was innocent and the entire rape accusation was an attempt from his ex-wife to extort $25 million dollars from him ( well Onika.)
October 24, 2017 | Erika Ziemak, an expert in forensic, testified that there was a “ less than 1 in 348 billion chance” that the DNA found on the victim’s clothes belonged to Maraj. She concluded that “ Jelani Maraj’s DNA profile is consistent with the stain on the pajama pants.”
October 25, 2017 | The now 13-year-old victim’s mother, Jacqueline Robinson, took the stand to deny the extortion claims. When asked by defense if she forced her kids to keep up what he called “a concoction of lies” she adamantly expressed “ No, that’s a lie.” She also testified that she never asked her lawyer to seek a settlement from Minaj or her family neither did she request “millions of dollar.”
October 30, 2017 | The victim takes the stand to testify. She confessed that she was repeatedly raped starting in April of 2015 ; she was just 11 at the time. She was told that she would be taken from her mother if she didn’t cooperate with his plans. “He would call me his puppet and say I had no say in what he did to me.” She remember the advances starting slowly with him first just rubbing his erection on her, but that it escalated one morning . “It was a Saturday morning, I had went to him to go say ‘Good morning’. I had hugged him like usual. I went to go lie next to him as I usually do. When I did that , he told me to go close the door. He told me to take off my pants. Then he told me to come under the covers with him and he started caressing me.” It is reported that Maraj then had sex with her and ejaculated in her mouth. After this incident, the assaults happened more frequently after school. “We would have sex in his bedroom , in my bedroom, in the basement.” Jelani did his best to convince the victim that the assaults were her fault. “He had mentioned I was brushing myself on him and that I wanted it to happen.” She revealed that the sodomy (anal sex) started in the summer. “ He used lubricant and told me to breathe properly and not to clench so it wouldn’t hurt so much.” “It hurt. I told him to stop and tried to push him away.”
October 31, 2017 | The victim was grilled during cross examination. Defense lawyer David Schwartz asked " This is a complete lie, isn’t it” to which she replied “ No, it’s not.” When asked why she didn’t report the abuse she stated “ Because she seemed happy … She went through a lot .... I wanted her to be happy.” She also admitted “ I was scared because then I would be taken away from my mother.”
November 1, 2017 | The defense tried to get case to be declared a mistrial due to the fact that a birth certificate was not provided during the trial to prove the victim’s age. David Schwartz, the defense lawyer, told the Nassau County Judge Robert McDonald , “Number one , the people have never established the victim’s age.” “We are relying on the victim who can’t possibly remember the day she was born.” Defense concluded that they ( the prosecution) had to prove that the girl was under 13 at the time of the rape and since that was not done, the case should be thrown out.
November 2, 2017 | Maraj’s mother, Carol Maraj, testified that the rape accusation was nothing more than a con to extort millions of dollars from the family ( Onika.) Carol recalls a conversation she had with Jacqueline Robinson , mother of the victim and ex-wife of Jelani, during a visit to see Jelani in Hempstead court and stated , “She said, ‘It’s going to take millions to get out of this one.’” She also confesses to continuing to text Robinson even after the conversation about the attempted extortion and that she never brought it back up again. It was also noted that in 2015 when the initial arrest happened , Carol texted Robinson to ask if she had set him up , but said nothing in regards to the victim, her (step)granddaughter’s, well being.
November 7 , 2017 | Prosecution makes one final plea to the jurors saying “Today,you have the power to give (the victim) her voice back. You have the power to stand up in a way she could not.” “ She told you how much it hurt, how scared she was, how much she cried. You know a little girl is not capable of making that up.” The defense painted a different picture , one of fabrications and lies. “It’s about the money, it’s about the revenge against the family. (She) needed the wedding before bringing down the master plan and taking all of Nicki’s money and ruining his life.” The prosecution closed with “ Tell those children you heard them. Deliver the justice that is so desperately needed in this case. Hold him accountable. Find him guilty.”
November 9, 2017 | Jelani Maraj was convicted on charges of raping his 11-year old stepdaughter. Sentencing scheduled for December, 14 2017. He faces 25 to life.
Throughout the trial there was mention that Jelani's sister would testify but from reports it is known that she neither appeared or testified in her brother's case.
With such sensitive cases I like to let the facts speak for themselves, but I want to know, do you think justice was served?
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