Opening statements are today in A$AP Rocky's assault trial. You can watch online.
Twelve jurors and four alternate jurors were sworn in Thursday afternoon after 2 1/2 days of voir dire that focused partly on Rocky's and Rihanna's celebrity status.
Opening statements are scheduled to begin today at 10:30 a.m. PST in rapper Rakim “A$AP Rocky” Mayers’ assault trial in Los Angeles.
You can watch the trial on my YouTube channel, where I’ll stream live from the courthouse starting about 10:30 a.m. PST.
Twelve jurors and four alternates were sworn in Thursday afternoon after 2 1/2 days of voir dire.
There are seven women and five men on the panel, including eight who appear white, two who appear Hispanic and two who appear Asian.
One woman is an assistant principal at an elementary school. Another woman is a scientist who spent 20 years designing space crafts, and one man manages an upscale hotel with a staff of about 80 people. Another man is a former manager at Trader Joe’s, and another woman is a firearms instructor whose father was a criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles. Her uncle also was a judge, and she has four cousins who are lawyers.
All jurors were questioned about their knowledge of Rocky and his life partner, megastar singer Rihanna.
The school principal said she likes Rihanna’s music, so Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney John Lewin said, “I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but what if Rihanna comes in here and you see her in the audience?” He asked if she would find it difficult to be objective.
The woman answered “no,” and Lewin noted she paused.
“Is there anything to your hesitation?” Lewin asked.
“I was imagining that situation in my head. Then I answered,” the woman answered.
The alternate jurors include a woman who is an entertainment lawyer and whose husband is a retired entertainment lawyer, as well as a retired administrative law judge from Minnesota and a marketing chief for a healthful snack company.
Rocky’s lawyers on Tuesday asked Judge Mark S. Arnold to strike the pool of 106 people because it contained only five Black people, which is 4.7 percent of the pool when the geographic area from which the pool draws has 9 percent Black people. Prosecutors said jury pools aren’t required to have a certain percentage of races, and the judge declined to strike the pool.
On Thursday, Al Sharpton posted on social media that only four of the potential jurors were Black.
“It is absolutely ridiculous that the jury will be not fair and representative, so as to deprive A$AP Rocky of a fair trial,” Sharpton wrote.
Rocky, 36, is charged with two counts of first-degree assault with a firearm for a Nov. 6, 2021, confrontation in Hollywood with a now-former friend from high school, Terell “Relli” Ephron.
Surveillance video shows Rocky with what appears to be a gun as he and Relli push each other, and other videos track their movements to another area where investigators say Rocky fired shots. The shooting, however, is barely visible in a far corner of the video. Prosecutors have another video that doesn’t show the shooting but includes audio of apparent gunfire. They also have text messages between Rocky and Reli setting up the confrontation.
Rocky’s lawyer Joe Tacopina, whose former clients include President Donald Trump and rapper Meek Mill, plans to tell the jury that Rocky carried a prop gun — which can’t fire bullets — with him the night of the confrontation but did not point it at Relli and only fired it as a warning. Judge Arnold told Tacopina he wasn’t playing fair because he didn’t tell prosecutors of witness statements about the prop gun defense 30 days before trial as required.
Arnold is allowing prosecutors to tell jurors about the late disclosure, at the request of Lewin, who is prosecuting Rocky with Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec. The judge hasn’t decided if he’ll specially instruct the jury about the late disclosure.
Rocky on Tuesday rejected plea offer that asked him to serve 180 days in jail, plead guilty to a single felony assault count and admit he used a gun, then serve three years on probation with a seven-year suspended prison sentence. He’d serve 480 hours of community service after leaving jail, and he’d have to give up his firearms.
Rocky told the judge his attorneys discussed the offer “in detail, Your Honor” and “I respectfully decline. Thank you.”
He faces a maximum 24 years in prison if convicted at trial. Prosecutors said on Tuesday that they’ll likely request 10 to 12 years.
Rocky’s sister and mother were in court on Wednesday and Thursday.
I’ll be in the courtroom for opening statements and all witness testimony today, ad I’ll also stream the proceedings live on my YouTube channel. Check the video below about 10:30 a.m. PST / 2:30 p.m. EST.
Previous articles:
Thank you for supporting my independent legal affairs journalism. Your paid subscriptions make my work possible. If you’re not already a paid subscriber, please consider purchasing a subscription through Substack. You also can support me through Venmo (MeghannCuniff), CashApp ($MeghannCuniff) and Zelle (meghanncuniff@gmail.com). Thank you!