Crime and the Criminal #9: Is Justice Delayed Justice Denied?

A Q&A with the lawyer representing Jam Master Jay’s alleged killer

Susan Kellman is an experienced criminal defense lawyer with over a hundred cases under her belt. She’s represented accused mobsters and alleged drug dealers, including members of the Colombo and Gambino crime families. She currently represents Ronald “Tinard” Washington, who along with Karl “Little D” Jordan, is awaiting trial for the 2002 murder of hip-hop icon Jam Master Jay.

In a recent court filing, Kellman claims that what she calls “the unprecedented delay”—Washington was charged with Jay’s murder nearly two decades after the fact—has hindered his ability to mount an effective defense.

Furthermore, the passage of time has clouded witnesses' recollections, she writes. She cites the example of Tanya Edwards, who was employed by the insurance company Primerica, which had an office opposite Jay’s studio.

On the night of the murder, Edwards saw two figures, a man and a woman, walking towards the studio. A few minutes later, she heard two shots and saw the man running down the hallway.

In an interview with detectives in August 2003, Edwards identified Lydia High, Jay’s secretary, as the woman. However, in a follow-up interview in 2016, she no longer remembered identifying High as the woman who accompanied the shooter.

High is expected to testify at trial that Ronald Washington was the gunman who ordered her to lie on the ground while a second gunman, allegedly Karl Jordan, shot Jay in the head.

Kellman is asking the judge in the case to dismiss the charges against her client because in waiting so long to indict him, prosecutors have violated the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.

This is an interview I recently conducted with her.

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So the government claims your client helped murder Jam Master Jay because he was upset about being cut out of a drug deal in Baltimore.

“The theory is that Jay promised him a piece of the action, but he put nothing into the deal because he didn’t have any money to put into the deal. He didn’t even have money for his next drink. So when the drug deal went bad, Washington didn’t lose a penny because he didn’t have a penny to begin with. Why would he kill Jay when Jay was giving him money for living expenses and allowing him to stay at his sister’s house? Why would my client kill his meal ticket, the guy who had been taking care of him? Why would my client kill his childhood friend? They grew up together. They had sleepovers at each other’s homes. They had dinner at each other’s homes.”

The government says “two co-conspirators” will testify against Washington. That means the conspiracy to murder Jay involved more people than first reported. Leaving aside the ethics of using people who plotted to murder Jay as witnesses against his killers, do you know who the two co-conspirators are?

“I don’t know, but there are those who suspect it’s Randy Allen [Jay’s long-time business manager who was present in the studio the night of the murder] and someone else. Many people think Randy is the most likely suspect. Randy had access, Randy had motive, Randy was Jay’s business partner and he had a life insurance policy on Jay. Some people believe Randy orchestrated the murder.” [Authorities have not charged Allen in connection with the murder. Allen vehemently denies any involvement in his best friend’s death.]

It looks like Randy’s sister Lydia High, who was also present in the studio the night of the murder, will testify against your client. Right after the murder, Lydia failed to identify Washington as one of Jay’s killers, even though she had known him for years. Yet, nine months later, she changed her story and fingered your client? How credible is she?

“First, Lydia said it wasn’t Washington, then she said it was. She knows him all of her life and and she doesnt recognize him on the night of the murder? One thing we know for sure, Lydia was in the studio that night. If Lydia identified my client back in 2003, why did they wait nearly twenty years to indict him? If the studio was bustling at the time of the shooting, and Washington was alleged to have been there, why not arrest him then? Shouldn’t they have been able to collar at least the shooter immediately without decades of non-action? If the government had evidence as far back as 2003 that Washington murdered Jam Master Jay, why did they sit on it for nearly two decades? It’s insane.”

What other evidence does the prosecution have? What about forensic evidence?

“This case appears to be built on zero forensic evidence. What can they say? They found my client’s fingerprints in the studio. Well, Washington was in that studio every day. Lydia says the shooter was wearing a knit cap. The NYPD found the cap in the alleyway right behind the studio, and when they tested it, they didn’t find my client’s DNA on it or Karl Jordan’s DNA on it.

I understand that the government intends to call Danyea McDonald, Washington’s ex-girlfriend, as a witness. She’s admitted to taking part in robberies with Washington. Apparently, he bragged to her he killed Jam Master Jay.

“My client was a drunk‌. It’s no secret he had a serious alcohol problem. She told the feds about my client’s drunken ramblings. She wasn’t there, she doesn’t have first-hand knowledge. Is everything a drunk says to his girlfriend gospel?”

According to my sources, the government has a jailhouse snitch who will testify that Washington bragged about killing Jay while he was in prison.

My client said a bunch of stupid things in jail about killing Jam Master Jay to make himself look like a big man. My client is a mess. His brain is so shot because of alcohol and drugs. He stuck up a liquor store around the corner from his house and stole a couple of bottles of booze. I asked him why he would do it right by his house where everybody knows him and he said: ‘Because I had to have a drink’.”

What about Karl Jordan? His father, Darren “Big D” Jordan, told me his son has an airtight alibi: he was with his pregnant girlfriend the night of the murder and she’s willing to testify to that.

“I don’t know about Jordan’s alibi, but I do know that when I spoke with Ronald [Washington] after he was indicted, he said he’d heard some bullshit that Karl Jordan was involved in the shooting. When I told him it was Karl Jordan, he burst out laughing. Jordan was a kid. If anybody was going to kill Jam Master Jay, they would not do it with a kid.” [Jordan was 18 at the time of the murder.]

How strong is the government’s case? Are you thinking about cutting a deal with the government to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence?

“Based on what we’ve read in discovery, there’s nothing there that has made me think, ‘Damn, we should cut a deal pronto’.”

The trial is scheduled to begin in February 2023.