A$AP Rocky fired clean pictures from a prop gun so as to shield his pal, his lawyer has mentioned on the primary day of his trial.
The US rapper is accused of firing a gun at Terell Ephron, a former childhood pal who testified their relationship had soured and a feud allegedly got here to a head on the evening of 6 November 2021.
Jurors had been proven surveillance movies a prosecutor argued made it clear Rocky fired a gun at Ephron exterior a parking storage in Hollywood.
However Rocky’s legal professional, Joe Tacopina, mentioned within the defence opening assertion the video proof is meaningless with out the testimony of the accuser, Ephron, who he argued is pushed by “jealousy, lies and greed”. He mentioned: “This case rises or falls on his credibility.”
He mentioned the gun was truly a “starter pistol” that solely shot blanks which Rocky carried for defense, one thing he argued Ephron knew.
The primary video proven by the prosecution confirmed a bodily battle between two males, with two others intervening, when one in all them – carrying a black hoodie – pulls out a gun and factors it, however doesn’t hearth.
“The evidence in this case will show that the man in the black sweatshirt is the defendant, Rakim Mayers,” mentioned Deputy District Legal professional Paul Przelomiec, utilizing Rocky’s authorized title. “That evidence will be uncontradicted.”
Rocky has pleaded not responsible to 2 felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
‘He by no means believed he was going to be shot’
Mr Przelomiec informed the jurors the 4 males within the video had all been members of the A$AP Collective and had been previous mates.
Ephron will testify he had been in a disagreement with Rocky and believed once they met up they might argue however reconcile, the prosecutor mentioned.
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Arriving on the courtroom
The state of affairs modified when Rocky pulled out a gun, however Ephron nonetheless pursued him as he walked away, Mr Przelomiec mentioned, including: “In his state of mind he never believed he was going to be shot.”
The defence lawyer argued Ephron was not scared as a result of he “knew that gun wasn’t real”.
Scraped knuckles
Mr Przelomiec confirmed jurors a photograph of bloody scrapes on Ephron’s knuckles which he mentioned might have come from the taking pictures, however had been irrelevant to the costs.
Mr Tacopina argued Ephron had truly been the aggressor and Rocky had fired clean pictures from his prop gun to cease him from attacking one in all their A$AP crew members who was with him, which was why Ephron scraped his knuckles.
He additionally mentioned seven officers who searched the scene discovered neither shell casings nor a weapon.
Rapper turned down prosecution plea supply
The trial comes after the rapper turned down a remaining prosecution plea supply – to plead responsible to one in all his two felony counts and serve 180 days in jail.
It means he faces a possible most jail sentence of 24 years if he’s discovered responsible by jurors.
The trial is about to final about three weeks.
Rocky, a Grammy-nominated star, is in a relationship with Rihanna, and the couple have two toddler sons. The Umbrella singer was not in courtroom.
Rocky has been named as one of many movie star chairmen of this 12 months’s Met Gala in Might and has a serious position in a Spike Lee-directed movie with Denzel Washington to be launched quickly after.
