Jury acquits A$AP Rocky in gun assault trial as courtroom erupts in cheers
Rocky leapt into the audience to hug Rihanna after the first not guilty verdict was read.
A jury on Tuesday acquitted rapper Rakim “A$AP Rocky” Mayers of two felony gun crimes for a Nov. 6, 2021, confrontation with a longtime friend in Hollywood.
Rocky leapt into the audience to hug Rihanna, his mother and his sister after the court clerk read the first not guilty verdict shortly before 5 p.m.
The audience erupted in cheers, and sheriff’s deputies stood by as Rocky’s chief bodyguard directed him back to the defense table.
“Hold it down! Hold it down! The verdict has to be read on count two!” Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold yelled.
Rocky hugged his lawyers Joe Tacopina and Chad Seigel as the clerk read the second not guilty verdict.
“Thank y’all for saving my life. Thank y’all for making the right decision,” Rocky told jurors as they exited.
Rocky and Rihanna left the courthouse together through a media mob and held a brief press conference with Rocky’s lead lawyer, Joe Tacopina.
“The bottom line is we’re grateful for the jury. They saw through this charade of a case,” Tacopina said. “We said from Day 1 he was innocent. He turned down a plea for almost no jail time because he was innocent. And I’ve always said, this was an extortion. The extortion played out live and in color in court.”
Rocky interjected to call Tacopina “A$AP Joe.” Tacopina later told reporters Rocky and Rihanna said they’ll name their third child after him.
The jury of seven women and five men deliberated about three hours on Tuesday for reaching the verdict, excluding a 90-minute lunch recess.
“We were all thinking a crime had been committed, but the thing is with the instructions we had, and with the law, we didn’t think there was enough evidence to convict,” the juror told YouTuber Nique at Nite.
She said most jurors wanted to acquit initially, but she and others had questions.
Rocky’s defense was that he fired a fake gun as a warning because Terell “Relli” Ephron was attacking their friend, but the juror told Nique most jurors believed the gun was real.
“I think most of us felt it was real,” she said. “Unfortunately a lot of the witnesses, we didn’t consider all of their testimony to be reliable.”
“The feeling was there was a gun,” she continued. “Unfortunately, they didn’t have enough evidence to convict on the charges that were handed down to us.”
The juror said the defense’s story about what happened to the prop gun was “a little mysterious” and “some of the testimony did not sound accurate or truthful.”
But, she said, “We just tried to stick to what was presented and stick to the instructions that we were given, and that’s how we reached our verdict.”
She said she believes “Relli felt his life was in danger.”
“I feel for all the people involved in this. I feel this could have been avoided. I hope that in the future Mr. Mayers really thinks ... about his actions before, you know, he is upset with somebody. He does have a lot to lose. He’s lucky at this point that we didn’t have enough evidence to hand down a conviction,” she said.
She said it “took a long time to convince a couple of people.”
“We all felt there was a crime committed,” she said. She said Rihanna was not mentioned “at all” during deliberations.
“We all have families, you know. We all hope for the best for our families. I really felt like people were not biased. I really felt like we just stuck to the evidence and the instructions,” she said.
She said she doesn’t want it to appear as though they acquitted Rocky because he’s a celebrity.
“We just did what we had to do, put all that aside. Really, nobody was considering it,” she said.
The juror said prosecutors did a great job, but they felt the case was missing key evidence.
Another juror told Nancy Dillon of Rolling Stone that their decision “was fundamentally about reasonable doubt.”
“We spent a lot of time discussing the concept of reasonable doubt, and the chain of evidence that was provided to us, setting aside personalities,” she said.
Relli’s testified he found two shell casings at the scene of the shooting after he returned later that night. Seven police officers searched the area before him and didn’t find anything, and Rocky’s lawyers said Relli lied when he said the casings were from the shooting.
Prosecutors emphasized in closing arguments that the fake gun Rocky fired would have ejected shell casings, too, which they argued negated the defense claim that police didn’t find shell casings because none existed. Relli texted Rocky photos of two casings on the ground after the shooting, but police didn’t have video of Relli retrieving them.
Shortly before trial, Rocky rejected an offer from prosecutors that he plead guilty to one assault charge and admit he used a gun, then serve 180 days in jail and be on probation for three years with a seven-year suspended prison to serve if he violates probation. He was to take anger management courses and perform 480 hours of community service, and he’d have to relinquish his firearms because he’d be a convicted felon.
Rocky’s maximum sentence was 24 years in prison; prosecutors said they’d recommend a prison sentence of 8 to 10 years if he’s convicted.
Deputy District Attorneys Paul Przelomiec and John Lewin left the courthouse on Tuesday without speaking to reporters.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman released a statement thanking them “for their dedication and tireless efforts in presenting this case.”
“While today’s verdict is not the outcome we sought, we respect the jury’s decision and the integrity of our justice system. Our office remains committed to seeking accountability for those who break the law, no matter their status or influence. Fame does not place anyone above the law, and we will not waver in our pursuit of justice for victims and the community,” according to the statement.
Shortly after leaving the courthouse, Rocky posted on social media, “DON’T BE DUMB,” a reference to his forthcoming album.
I discussed the verdict on LiveNow From Fox, including what it was like inside the courtroom.
“Everyone was just elated. It was incredible. It happened like 2, 2 1/2 hours ago, and I'm still kind of coming down from it because it was just like, wow, one of those life experiences, you know?” I said.
I’ll have more coverage of the verdict and jury interviews later this week.
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