Carol Maraj, Nicki Minaj’s mother, feels her son Jelani Maraj didn’t get a fair trial, which she talked about in a new interview. In 2017 Jelani was convicted of predatory sexual assault after being charged with raping his 11-year-old stepdaughter in their Long Island, N.Y. home.
According to Carol, the prosecutors had no real evidence for a conviction, and that was confirmed by an alternate juror who was released from the trial early.
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“As soon as the alternate juror was sent away he spoke to the press,” she explained. “He said he would’ve freed Jelani Maraj, because there was no evidence … He said because every piece of clothing and everything that was presented came back negative.”
In addition, Nicki’s mother said the main jurors disobeyed the judge’s orders not to discuss the case with anyone, including their families. Plus, she revealed the alternate juror began to help the defense and gave them a sworn affidavit about jury members discussing the case outside of court.
“[There were jurors] talking about the trial way before it deliberated, even though the judge told them to go home and speak to no one,” said Carol.
She also claimed that her son’s case was “high profile” because of who his sister is, and the jurors should’ve been sequestered to keep them quiet.
Carol also feels that Nicki Minaj’s celebrity hindered the jury’s ability to come up with an unbiased decision, and they felt because she didn’t show up for the trial, it meant that Jelani was guilty, which she said is ludicrous.
“They totally ignored that there was no evidence to prove this man guilty, so they went by their own mind, their own feelings and they already had him guilty way before the trial ended.” Carol stated.
Meanwhile, Nicki just released her fourth album “Queen” on Friday Aug. 10 to warm reviews and perhaps surprisingly, she hasn’t done a huge press run for it or given a lot of details before it dropped.
She also hasn’t spoken about her brother’s rape case since he was charged in 2015, but it’s been a topic that some have reminded her of, like Remy Ma when the two were feuding last year.
Later in the interview, Carol said that Jelani and his lawyer David Schwartz are currently appealing the conviction and will use the alternate jurors’ sworn affidavit to try and get the guilty verdict thrown out. Jelani is currently facing 25 years to life in prison.
