In her ruling Friday, Dec. 19, in the Eastern District of New York, Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall granted Jordan’s motion for a judgment of acquittal on the two most serious counts, wiping out the jury’s convictions for murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking and a related firearm offense, court filings show.
Hall said the government’s theory linking the 2002 killing of Jam Master Jay, whose legal name was Jason Mizell, to a drug conspiracy relied too heavily on speculation rather than concrete proof.
“After a review of the trial record, the Court finds that the Government’s theories of Jordan’s drug-related motive to kill Mizell or drug offense-related motive to use a firearm are impermissibly speculative and just conjecture,” Hall wrote in the decision.
Because of that finding, the judge ruled that Jordan met the high legal standard required to overturn a jury verdict and entered judgments of acquittal on both counts.
Mizell was shot and killed inside his Run-DMC–affiliated recording studio in Hollis, Queens, on Oct. 30, 2002. The 37-year-old hip-hop pioneer was fatally wounded during an attack inside Studio 24, a case that stunned the music world and remained unsolved for nearly 18 years.
Federal prosecutors alleged the killing stemmed from a dispute tied to drug trafficking, claiming Mizell was targeted over a drug deal involving large quantities of cocaine. Defense attorneys challenged that theory throughout the trial, arguing the government failed to present direct evidence linking the shooting to a narcotics conspiracy.
Jordan was tried in February 2024 alongside his godfather Ronald Washington, who prosecutors said was a longtime associate of Mizell and was present at the studio during the shooting. Both were found guilty on murder-related charges. Washington's convictions were not addressed in Judge Hall’s ruling and remain in place.
Prosecutors argued that Washington helped facilitate the attack by allowing the gunmen access to the studio, though Washington has denied responsibility for the killing.
The case was prosecuted federally because authorities alleged the killing was tied to drug trafficking, a theory the judge ultimately ruled was not proven. It was not immediately clear whether Jordan could still face state charges in the killing.
Jordan had also sought a new trial as a fallback, but Hall ruled that while the evidence was insufficient, the trial itself was conducted fairly and did not warrant a do-over.
It was not immediately clear whether federal prosecutors plan to appeal Hall’s ruling. Jordan cannot be retried on the overturned counts unless a higher court reverses the decision.
Mizell was a founding member of the pioneering hip-hop group Run-DMC, which helped bring rap music into the mainstream in the 1980s. As the group’s DJ and producer, Mizell played a central role in shaping the sound and image of early hip-hop, blending rap with rock influences and helping the genre reach a global audience.
Run-DMC scored multiple chart-topping hits and broke barriers for hip-hop artists, becoming one of the first rap groups to earn a platinum album and secure major crossover success. The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.
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