Prosecutors clash with A$AP Rocky's defense lawyer over perjury allegations
Jurors are to begin deliberating Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. PST in Los Angeles.
No matter which side you believe in A$AP Rocky’s gun assault trial, someone lied under oath.
According to Rocky’s defense, the perjurer is Terell “Relli” Ephron, whose mistruths include denying shooting guns at a firing range in Los Angeles only to be confronted with video of him doing so.
According to prosecutors, the intentional liars were less combative and more methodical: They were Rocky’s close friends Lou Levin and Jamel “A$AP Twelvvy” Phillips, who testified Rocky fired a fake gun during his Nov. 6, 2021, altercation with Relli, then got rid of it because he realized it was a poor security measure.
Rocky’s lawyer Joe Tacopina has taken his argument about Relli’s lies a step further by blaming the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for embracing perjury. In the process, he’s drawn the ire of prosecutors who say he’s violating California state court rules against disparaging opposing counsel.
The issue erupted Friday during a break in Tacopina’s closing argument when Deputy District Attorney John Lewin complained that Tacopina told jurors prosecutors “accepted their witness committed perjury.” Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark S. Arnold overruled Lewin’s objection, but he later told the jury he was wrong and should have sustained it.
Lewin told the judge after the jury left that he made “it clear to the jury that my objection you find annoying.”
“It's very clear that the tone that we get when we make an objection that should be sustained is, ‘What are you doing?’” Lewin said.
“Lower your voice and don’t yell at me!” Judge Arnold yelled.
Tacopina said he never said prosecutors suborned perjury, as Lewin previously claimed. He said prosecutors embraced and accepted Relli’s perjury, which he characterized as a “fair comment.”
“It’s not fair comment. It’s completely unethical,” Lewin said.
“I agree with you,” Judge Arnold told Lewin.
Lewin said that Tacopina doesn’t know the law or doesn’t care, and Arnold said, “you’re disparaging him right now.”
“The jury’s not here. I have every right and obligation and duty to stand up here and point out when he is being unethical,” Lewin said.
After Arnold said he’d tell the jury he made a mistake, Tacopina said he’s “just about had it with” Lewin accusing him of being unethical. He mentioned that Lewin suggested stipulating in trial that a shooting range wasn’t located in Los Angeles when it in fact was.
Tacopina also referenced a 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that said Lewin “lied to a jury,” referring to a May opinion that mentioned “the prosecutor’s outrageous misrepresentation” in a murder case Lewin prosecuted.
“Your Honor, one more thing out of him and we air everything that’s happened in this case, which the court’s aware of. He might want to stop,” Lewin said.
“Ohhh, I’m so threatened,” Tacopina said.
“You should be, Joe. You should be,” Lewin said as Judge Arnold told them to stop. The judge later did mock boxing ring announcements for the attorneys before the jury arrived.
Arnold told jurors, “I have no problem admitting when I made a mistake, and I made a mistake.” The judge said he’s “not accusing anyone of doing anything improper,” but Tacopina’s statement “puts the prosecutors in an unfair light, and that was improper.”
Tacopina, whose previous clients include President Donald Trump and rapper Meek Mill, has been licensed to practice in New York since 1992 and in Connecticut since 2013. He’s not licensed in California and is sponsored pro hac vice in Rocky’s case by Sarah Caplan, a Los Angeles-based lawyer who has been licensed in California since 1990.
Jurors are to begin deliberating Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. PST after nearly 10 hours of closing arguments and rebuttal on Thursday and Friday. The courthouse was closed on Monday in observance of Presidents Day.
‘Front-row seat to a perjury machine’
Rocky, 36, is charged with two counts of first-degree assault with a semiautomatic firearm for the Nov. 6, 2021, altercation in Hollywood with Relli. Prosecutors say a bullet appears to have grazed Relli’s left knuckles; Rocky’s lawyers say Relli scraped his knuckles on the ground.
Prosecutors say Rocky initially pointed the gun at Relli and threatened to kill him, then fired two shots at him after Relli followed Rocky, Twelvvy and their friend Illijah “A$AP Illz” Ulanga.
Tacopina says Relli followed Rocky because he knew the gun was fake. Twelvvy testified that Relli told Rocky “put that fake-ass gun away” after Rocky pulled it out because his pants were falling down. Tacopina has told jurors that Relli lied about the shooting to try to extort Rocky and win a settlement through a lawsuit that seeks $30 million in damages.
Rocky’s defense rides on jurors believing Relli is lying when he says he picked up two shell casings after he returned to the shooting scene. Tacopina worked to discredit him in cross-examination by casting him as greedy, jealous and the true aggressor in the confrontation with Rocky. He told jurors in his closing that they had “a front-seat to a perjury machine” and called Relli “perhaps the most unbelievable witness in the history of American jurisprudence.”
Tacopina reminded jurors that Relli initially said he didn’t recall when asked about text messages he sent Rocky on Nov. 5, 2021, that said, “You got all these fake animosity towards me lol beat me up,” “I wish you would,” “Give me a reason.”
“He ultimately admitted he sent those texts to Rocky that day,” Tacopina told jurors.
Relli also testified he deleted the messages before Rocky texted him the next day wanting to meet. Tacopina reminded jurors that Relli first said ‘I don’t recall’ when asked if he deleted them.
Relli also said in a text message to a friend on Oct. 16, 2021, that if Rocky didn’t fulfill his promise to pay for a friend’s funeral, he’d beat him up. Relli said he didn’t recall the text and “I wouldn’t even write that.”
“When I explained to him that the text was given to us from his phone from the District Attorney’s Office, he changed his answer to, ‘This means nothing,’” Tacopina said. “Relli’s willingness to lie to you over and over again without regard for his oath to tell the truth is offensive.”
“In a matter of five seconds he went from ‘That’s not me’…to…’Yes, it is me,’ Tacopina said. “That’s perjury, ladies and gentlemen. That’s perjury. That’s a crime, by the way, perjury.”
Tacopina also reminded jurors that Relli testified he only said “f*** you” to Rocky in a “wishy washy” way and “with love,” but Tacopina had a text he sent Rocky in August 2021 that said, “f*** you and ASAP fake ass n****.” Another text in September 2021 said, “F*** everything about you, you fake-ass n****.”
“There’s nothing he doesn’t lie about. There’s absolutely nothing he doesn’t lie about,” Tacopina said.
Tacopina also reminded jurors that Relli initially testified he was left handed, then corrected himself and said he was right handed. Relli also testified he never said he was pulling Rocky in the video, but Tacopina impeached his testimony with his testimony from Rocky’s preliminary hearing in November 2023. Relli also told prosecutors in 2022 that Rocky pressed the gun against his stomach and said “I’m going to kill you,” but he testified in trial the gun never touched him and he doesn’t remember what he said.
“Why the different version in this courtroom? Because, and we talked about this, when you’re lying, sometimes you just can’t keep it straight. The truth never changes,” Tacopina said.
He reminded jurors of Relli’s explanation: “I’m getting tired of talking to everyone, bro.”
Tacopina also showed jurors video of Relli on the witness stand saying “definitely not” when asked if he’d fired a 9 mm gun at a shooting range before his November 2021 confrontation with Rocky, then saying ‘‘unless I went to a shooting range” after he was shown video of him shooting a gun at a range in October 2021.
“He just thinks he can make that up in front of you,” Tacopina said. “There has to be a point in time where you have to be so offended by him just looking at you guys and lying.”
Tacopina said Relli “was committing perjury” when he answered “definitely not.” When Tacopina asked him why he said it, Relli said, “To be honest, I just wanted to stop talking to you.”
“He literally said to you he just lied under oath on a very important fact … because he was tired of answering my questions,” Tacopina said.
“There’s only one reason he would lie about it, to cover it up,” Tacopina added.
Tacopina also reminded jurors that Relli corrected his testimony mid- trial by contacting prosecutors on a Sunday to say he learned the range was in Los Angeles after someone posted the video of him at the gun range on social media alongside a photo of the Los Angeles Gun Club.
“Within minutes, he called the prosecutor. What a coincidence,” Tacopina
Tacopina also told jurors that, before Relli contacted them over the weekend, prosecutors asked for a stipulation with the defense that the range wasn’t in Los Angeles. Judge Arnold intervened and told jurors that prosecutors “believed in good faith that it was outside California.”
“The fact that it wasn’t came as a surprise to everybody,” Arnold said.
“Except for the witness,” Tacopina said.
DA says Relli was ‘untruthful’ but credible
Prosecutors have taken the delicate stance of acknowledging problems in Relli's testimony while defending his credibility about the crimes Rocky is accused of committing.
Lewin addressed the perjury allegations against Relli in his rebuttal when he said,“Is it true that Relli at points in time was untruthful during his testimony? Absolutely.”
“The difference between Relii and the defense witnesses is Relli was hostile. Relli was angry. Relli threw things. That wasn’t appropriate conduct. You saw the judge — the judge was very frustrated with him. Everybody was frustrated with him,” Lewin said.
“But in the end, his credibility about what counts in this case was absolutely proven, and it was proven through their own witness,” Lewin continued, referring to Wally Sajimi, who authenticated recordings in which Relli discusses the shooting.
Lewin said Sajmi and Rocky’s other defense witnesses, Levin and Twelvvy “were calmer and more respectful,” but “they perjured themselves in material areas.”
“Relli, on the other hand, was truthful about everything that counted,” Lewin said.
He said Relli’s testimony that he wasn’t sure if it was his girlfriend in a photo and that he doesn’t know about his property investments in Miami are “not only not important, they are completely irrelevant.”
“Imagine if you are sitting there on a case that is being live streamed. You’ve got the camera here. You’ve already been threatened. Your family’s been threatened. Your daughter’s been threatened. Your girlfriend’s been threatened and now someone is going to ask you — a defense attorney — ‘What’s your girlfriend’s name?’ ‘Let me show you a picture of her for the world to see.’” Lewin said. “What do you expect Relli to do?”
Lewin didn’t mention the photo was from an escort website, and that Judge Arnold said after the jury left that Relli said he didn’t know if it was his girlfriend because he was trying to protect her. The judge allowed Tacopina to question Reli about the photo, but the jury never saw it and it was not entered as evidence.
“Relli was angry, and he was hostile,” Lewin said. But Lou and Twelvvy “weren’t angry or hostile, they were just liars. Start to finish.”
Prosecutors told jurors that Tacopina didn’t disclose Levin’s statements about a fake gun until the eve of jury selection. His statement also changed the day of his testimony to add that Levin took the fake gun Rocky fired in November 2021 back to New York City and returned it to the co-director of the video for Rocky’s song “D.M.B.”
Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec said the timing of the changed statement “defies credibility.”
“He told you a story to explain away the evidence that would obviously point to the defendant’s guilt,” Przelomiec said in his two-hour closing argument on Thursday.
Przelomiec reminded jurors that only Levin and Twelvvy support Rocky’s defense that his gun was fake.
“Once you decide that it’s a real gun, you’re deciding that … that those two witnesses specifically lied,” Przelomiec said. “Everything they say should be rejected. And why did they lie to you? Because they know the truth. They know this was a real gun.”
Relli tapes become DA’s ‘best evidence’
Prosecutors have always had surveillance video of most of the November 2021 altercation, but they ended trial with more evidence they said supports his testimony after Tacopina revealed previously secret recordings of Relli by Sajimi, a web consultant and developer who sent Rocky the recordings without Relli’s knowledge.
Tacopina played part of the recordings for Relli in cross-examination, but Relli denied his voice was his and said the recordings were fabricated. Rocky paid for Sajimi to fly to Los Anglees from Paris in the midst of trial to authenticate the recordings and help further discredit Relli.
But Lewin told jurors he wonders if the defense actually listened to the recordings, because they “are some of the best evidence we have in this case."
Lewin said Relli “in a lot of ways was a very problematic victim” and “not very sympathetic,” but during his calls with Sajimi, Relli “does not have any idea that he’s being recorded” and what he says about the shooting matches his testimony.
“That tape was the key to Relli’s credibility, if you believe it was important,” Lewin said. “That tape backs up every material point that Relli has made.”
In his closing, Tacopina lamented the fact that he questioned Sajimi for 10 minutes to verify that Relli was wrong when he said the recordings were fake, only for Lewin to cross-examine him for two hours.
“We provided them that tape that they think is so helpful to them,” Tacopina told jurors, calling Sajimi’s cross “not a gotcha moment.” “They know those tapes are death — death to their case.”
“Their main witness once again committed perjury on a main issue in this case,” Tacopina said, referring to Relli saying the recordings were fabricated.
As for the content of the recordings, “Relli had already been telling his story for months — his fabricated story for months. So that he said it to Wally on a tape makes it more true? If you tell a lie 100 times it doesn’t make it more true,” Tacopina said.
He played a snippet from the recordings in which Relli tells Sajimi, “You ask for a bag without a lawyer, yo, it’s called extortion, bro. I’ve got to do everything accordingly.”
Tacopina reminded jurors that Relli didn’t get a lawyer until two days after the shooting, and he’d already asked Rocky for money.
Tacopina also played a snippet of Relli talking about how he could disappear if he got money and the district attorney’s office would look for him; Relli compared it to what happens when you “hit your bitch” but she doesn’t cooperate with authorities.
Tacopina played another snippet that jurors first heard in Sajimi’s cross-examination, of Relli saying that Rocky tried to chest bump him “then pulled out a gun for self defense.”
“So the guy wanting $30 million…the victim, is saying he pulled out a gun for self defense. But somehow you are supposed to believe it wasn’t in self defense,” Tacopina said.
Prosecutors played much more from the recordings in their argument. Przelomiec played about 20 minutes on Thursday. Lewin also played 10 straight minutes from the recording in his 2 1/2 hour rebuttal on Friday.
Relli’s conversations with Sajimi were among the nine occasions he discussed the shooting, and “he was consistent even when he didn’t know he was being recorded.”
“Can you imagine telling the details of something that happened to you nine times and not having minor inconsistencies in what you say? I mean, it’s completely natural,” Przelomiec said.
Lewin said the recordings clearly are authentic and “obviously it was Relli’s voice.”
“And obviously he was uncooperative. But why was he uncooperative?” Lewin asked.
He said Relli is “facing death threats. His family is facing death threats. He doesn’t want to give his girlfriend’s name, say where he lives, say anything about Miami.”
“You gotta ask yourself first, ‘Is it understandable why he didn’t want to answer those questions?’ Of course it is,” Przelomiec said.
Tacopina repeatedly asked Relli questions and, “It was very clear that the result of that, if not the intention, was to get Relli upset, to get him agitated and to shut him down. And that’s what happened,” Lewin said.
“But even more importantly, none of those questions, none of those answers, mattered,” Lewin said.
Tacpoina told jurors that Przelomiec’s closing “didn’t mention that their only witness in this case committed perjury again and again and again in this courtroom” when the case “does rise and fall on his credibility.”
“Without Relli, the two videos and the sounds, there’s no evidence of a shooting,” Tacopina said.
Rocky’s fake gun ejected casings, too
Levin’s testimony is key to the defense explaining why Rocky had a Glock 43 gun magazine in his home but no gun to go with it.
Police didn’t find fake guns when they searched Rocky’s West Hollywood home in April 2022, but they found a shotgun, rifle and .44 Magnum in his bedroom, as well as the magazine.
Prosecutors have suggested that Rocky shot at Relli with a Glock 43, then disposed of the gun but forgot the extra magazine.
In testimony on Feb. 7, Levin said he mistakenly bought the 43 magazine for his Glock 42, then left it at Rocky’s home.
But, Przelomiec said, “here’s where it became painfully obvious that Lou did not think this through.”
Levin testified that he modified a Glock 26 prop gun with a magazine extender, and it turns out that style of prop gun also ejects spent shell casings. Much of Rocky’s defense has focused on the fact that seven police officers searched the shooting scene after responding to a 911 call but didn’t find shell casings before Relli says he found two.
But if Rocky’s alleged fake gun also ejected casings, “Why are there no prop cartridge casings found at the scene?” Przelomiec asked jurors.
“That painfully contradicts their own defense in this case,” the prosecutor said.
Tacopina told jurors they have no evidence “whatsoever regarding what those blank cartridges look like.”
“No evidence that shell casings from Rocky’s casings would be visible,” Tacopina said, but Relli’s casings would have been “impossible” to miss.
Prosecutors have called the fake gun defense absurd and insulting to jurors’ intelligence. Lewin said in his rebuttal, “There is no question whatsoever that our case got immeasurably stronger because the defense chose to put on a case.”
“They elected to put on a defense that killed their case. It destroyed it,” Lewin said. He said jurors “easily, easily, easily could be a five- minute verdict … once you decide that this was not a prop gun.”
“Once you decide that it is a firearm, that means that their entire defense has fallen apart,” Lewin said.
Judge Arnold instructed the jury about self defense, but to get to self defense, jurors must first conclude Rocky’s gun was real.
“And now what Mr. Tacopina wants you to do is say, ‘Well, even if the witnesses we put on lied, even if it was a real gun, here’s why it’s self defense,” Lewin said.
Tacopina reminded jurors that Twelvvy is the only witness who saw the altercation between Rocky and Relli, and he testified Rocky fired his fake gun as a warning because Twelvvy was attacking their friend Illz. But Przelomiec said the surveillance video shows that what Twelvvy said happened “did not happen.”
“The gun comes out before Mr. Ephron is anywhere near Illz. That completely negates their defense. Negates why they say he had to pull the gun in the first place,” Przelomiec said. He reminded jurors that instructions on self defense say it can’t be justified by “a belief that there’s going to be future harm.”
Tacopina said Rocky didn’t fire the first shot until Relli was “in full-blown attack mode on Illz,” but Przelomiec said the video “clearly shows” Rocky pulling the gun out, turning around and putting his arm forward before Relli “is anywhere near Illz.”
“When exactly in that sequence he fired, hard to say,” Przelomiec said. The video with the sound of the shooting is not the same as the video of the shooting, and Detective Frank Flores testified the timing may be imprecise.
“They’re close enough to tell that in those seconds, the defendant starts firing,” Przelomiec said.
Przelomiec also said the video further refutes Rocky’s fake gun defense because “nobody is acting on that video like it’s a fake gun. They’re all reacting like it’s a real gun.”
Lewin said prosecutors can’t do anything more to show the fake gun didn’t exist.
“How are we supposed to prove that it’s not a prop gun when they’ve got the gun and they got rid of it?” Lewin asked.
He also notes Illz’s absence as a witness and said Rocky would have called him as a witness “if you think for a moment that Illz would have had something helpful to say in this case.”
“When they say, ‘Hey, wait a minute. The People needed to call him.’ Why on Earth would it make sense for the People to call one of the three individuals who was clearly involved in ambushing Relli in the first place and who is reliant on the defendant for his career?” Lewin asked.
Tacopina objected for shifting the burden of proof, but Judge Arnold overruled.
DAs cite Rocky’s ‘Don’t say it’ comment
One of the most viral trial moments occurred when Lewin asked Twelvvy what AWGE means, referring to an object in a photo of Rocky’s bedroom that referenced his company AWGE.
From the defense table, Rocky said, “Don’t say it” in front of the jury.
Rocky’s “Don’t say it” comment is best explained on AWGE’s website, which describes it as a creative agency with two rules: 1) “Never reveal what AWGE means” 2) “When in doubt always refer to rule #1”.
Jurors didn’t hear about the rules, but they heard Lewin question Twelvvy about Rocky’s comment as he tried to show Rocky was influencing his testimony. They heard about the comment again in Przelomiec’s closing when he told jurors Twelvvy was coached.
“I don’t have to tell you Twelvvy was coached, because you can see it with your own eyes in court. If you can’t see it, you can hear it,” Przelomiec said. He said Rocky was “literally coaching him in court” by saying “don’t say it.”
“So you expect him to come into court and tell you the truth of exactly what happened on that street corner? That video does not show Mr. Ephron attacking Illz,” Przelomiec said.
Tacopina told jurors Rocky “regrets doing it” and that AWGE is “something personal to his children.” The fact that Przelomiec cited the comment in his closing “is indicative of just how desperate they are,” Tacopina said.
Jurors again heard about the comment from Lewin when he said in his rebuttal that Rocky is “entitled.”
“He is a big important man and everybody serves him. This is just a small example, but it’s important: Has anyone ever seen or heard a defendant yell out to a witness in front of the jury, ‘Don’t answer that?’” Lewin said. “That’s what happens when you have a lot of power and no one has ever told you, ‘You know what? You can’t do that.”
Judge bars mention of Rihanna being in court
Rihanna has been in the courtroom for some of Rocky’s trial, including bringing her and Rocky’s two young sons, one-year-old Riot Rose and three-year-old RZA, on Thursday.
On Friday, Tacopina reminded jurors in his closing argument that Relli sent someone a link to an article headlined, “Rihanna fears heartbreaking consequences of A$AP Rocky’s trial” with a smiley face.
“This parasite is happy if he can hurt that man, that woman and her family,” Tacopina said.
In rebuttal, Lewin told jurors they legally can’t consider Rihanna and the kids when deciding whether Rocky is guilty.
“The defendant is a celebrity. His wife is an even bigger celebrity,” Lewin said, though Rocky and Rihanna are not married. “They brought in two adorable children yesterday for closing argument. But they haven’t been here at any other time. And you have to ask yourselves — those kids have a right to be here — why children that age would be here in a situation like this?”
He reminded jurors that Tacopina mentioned the potentially “heartbreaking consequences” for Rihanna.
“That is not something you are allowed to consider. So I’m not telling you I don’t think you should consider it. You are not allowed to consider it,” Lewin said.
Lewin said later, “I want to make sure that no matter how successful he is, no matter how famous his wife is, no matter how cute his kids are, how much they giggle here during closing arguments, that you guys aren’t going to say you know what, ‘We’re going to give him a little extra.’ He needs to be treated like you would treat any other person.”
“He doesn’t get to be the big celebrity in a jury trial. He’s a defendant like anyone else,” Lewin said.
When the jury was out of the courtroom, Judge Arnold told Lewin not to mention Rihanna and the children being in the courtroom again. He said the previous mentions weren’t improper, and Lewin can discuss Rihanna and their children in response to Tacopina, but he can’t mention them being in the courtroom.
“Do not mention again Rihanna being in the courtroom or the babies being in the courtroom,” the judge said.
I discussed the Rocky’s trial on LiveNOW from Fox Friday evening:
I’ll stream live on my YouTube channel from the courthouse during jury deliberations. You also can find videos on my TikTok and Instagram pages.
I heard the attorneys will be in court at 9 a.m. PST to discuss an issue with Judge Arnold. I’ll be there.
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