Hernandez Govan’s attorney slams Shelby County judicial system; Govan says he’s leaving Memphis
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Manny Arora, attorney for Hernandez Govan, ripped into the Shelby County criminal justice system minutes after a jury found his client not guilty on all charges related to the murder of Young Dolph.
“The police shaded the truth in this case just to try to convict somebody who’s innocent,” Arora said.
Throughout the trial, Arora chastised Memphis Police for not pulling surveillance footage from an AutoZone where confessed killer Cornelius Smith claimed he met Govan after the murder. The attorney also repeatedly questioned why officers never retrieved surveillance footage from AutoZone, where Smith said he went to buy a car cover with money given to him by Govan to hide the white Mercedes used in the crime.
That testimony from Smith was a big part of the prosecution’s case in Hernandez Govan’s trial. His testimony helped convict Justin Johnson of Young Dolph’s murder, but the jury that heard Hernandez Govan’s trial didn’t think as highly of it.
“The whole thing was a joke, even down to the neighbor whom he supposedly gave $500 to; none of it was true. None of it happened. I don’t even know if they have the right car because there wasn’t a drop of blood in that thing. They didn’t wipe it down because the expert said there was no evidence of bleach in that car. Nothing that man said was true,” Arora said of Smith’s testimony.
Another attorney working on Govan’s case gave some insight into what the jury was thinking. “They virtually echoed everything that he said in closing. They were very critical that anyone could be locked up that long and didn’t have the resources to defend themselves. The jurors said that. A guy said, ‘I am offended. I am offended by this.’ And he said that he’s disappointed in Mulroy. That’s your elected official, and that’s my elected official because I live here,” he said.
During the trial, Arora called Memphis Police Sgt. Browning, who testified as to call detail records and who also testified during Johnson’s trial, a “pathological liar.” He ripped into the evidence provided by Browning, which wasn’t produced until a day before the trial.
“Half the stuff was just made up within a couple of days of this stuff, and they gave us this mystical receipt that’s never been in any of the police reports. The jury didn’t buy it for a second. The lead investigator, Dabney, was incredibly honest when he said, “These are the mistakes that we made, and then you call up somebody that’s willing to do or say anything to clean up the case and get a conviction.” You saw how they shaded off the phone records. Where are the text messages? Where is any of that from Justin Johnson to our client, saying that we’re going to do something? I presented hundreds of text messages where he’s threatening people, where he’s trying to go shoot people with others. Govan was never in on any of it. The fact that you’re still asking me these questions, I find offensive because it didn’t happen. You would never take anything you heard in that courtroom for any decision you would make in your life, for any decision that has significance. You would laugh at me if I said to believe those guys. So, let’s just keep it real. This is all garbage. I’m grateful that he’s out. I’m sorry in the world that he had to do nine months in prison. I’m just grateful that his fiancée called me and that we have the resources to help poor people,” Arora said.
Arora began the trial by saying Govan was a “nobody,” saying that he was a poor Black man from Orange Mound. He used that in his argument, claiming that a conspiracy to murder someone as famous as Young Dolph would surely not include someone of as little importance as Hernandez Govan.
“It’s just so wrong. If I can see it, there’s no way a jury couldn’t see it. That’s why it took, what, two hours to figure that out… The fact that anybody in the press would say it was this or it was that was clearly flagrant, and I wish it would be reported that this is what your justice system is in Memphis. If you’re Black and poor, you’ve got a problem,” Arora said.
Govan then spoke, saying that he feels great and that he’s “happy to have his life back.” Govan said he looks forward to seeing his son.
“It’s kind of hard to explain the feeling of getting your life back just from 12 people. I’m just blessed, and I’m just ready to see my son,” Govan said.
Regarding Arora’s claim that “if you’re Black and poor in Memphis, you’ve got a problem,” Govan gave one piece of advice: leave Memphis. He said he plans on doing just that.
“Do you plan on leaving Memphis, sir?” FOX13 asked Govan. He replied, “Of course.”
Govan said he’s been nervous for four years, ever since being implicated in the murder, but he’s looking forward to the next chapter.
“It feels great. It just feels like I’ve been born again. I get a chance to restart my life and do some positive things,” Govan said. He was not so optimistic, however, about the future of the Shelby County justice system. When asked if he thought his not guilty verdict would change anything in Shelby County, he replied, “As corrupt as this system is, I doubt it.”
Arora followed that question by saying, “I’m not here for Memphis, but if this is a microcosm for what’s going on, then you should all be worried, and maybe we should be digging into these things and figuring out why so many people are in jail, why we keep them without bond and force them into pleas and things of that nature, and why investigations aren’t always there. Thankfully, my office has the resources to help these types of people and can spend the money to do it. I can only imagine how hard it is for the public defenders with their cases or other appointed lawyers who couldn’t do this, and how many people shouldn’t be in prison,” Arora said.
Arora then took aim at the big question that hung over the trial—if Big Jook put out a hit on Young Dolph, why was Big Jook never charged or officially interviewed by investigators?
“They’re not telling the truth,” Arora said. “They never went out to go talk to him and to just say, ‘Oh, he would have just gotten a lawyer, so we didn’t bother. Are you kidding me? Everybody gets a lawyer if they’re smart, as far as that goes. But they’ve threatened other witnesses to come in and say whatever. Your questions should be, ‘What about all of the people after the fact that helped, assuming that (Smith) was shot and was given clothes and they went to this apartment, or somebody helped him escape to Indiana? What happened to all those people who were supposed to be charged? What about all of the people in the text messages where I showed you blatantly they’re talking about shooting people, and shootings happened? Nobody’s indicted. What about the guy who carjacked the Mercedes, Treon Ingram? He’s not charged with anything. He’s picked up a subsequent murder since then. And then they saw in their closing statements, the gall of it all, they say, ‘We can’t arrest everybody.’ Yet, they’re running 14- and 15-defendant RICO cases. I mean, just come on. If they made up their mind that Jook wasn’t going to get charged, maybe because he’s going to get fancy lawyers who can see through all of this B.S., I don’t know. They have all the texts,” Arora said.
The jurors who found Govan innocent are from Shelby County. Arora said he didn’t move to have an out-of-town jury, partially because he thought the state’s case was so weak and partially so that Memphians could see that case for themselves.
“Because I think the case was so bad that Memphis juries and people who live here need to see what really happens, and so I don’t need to play games and get somebody from out of town. The Memphis people need to see what happens in Memphis,” Arora said.
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