LOS ANGELES (CN) — The three-week trial of A$AP Rocky, accused of firing a gun at an old friend in 2021, is finally in the hands of the jury following some very long closing remarks and yet another shouting match between a pair of attorneys who haven’t bothered hiding their disdain for one another.
Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, is charged with two counts of assault with a semiautomatic handgun. Prosecutors say he had a falling out with Terell Ephron, pulled a gun on him, and minutes later, fired two shots at him. Ephron, whom Mayers met in high school, walked away from the incident with only a few scraped knuckles. He intended to sue Mayers for the shooting but was told he had to go to police first.
Investigators found little evidence of the shooting itself. It was Ephron who went back to the scene of the shooting and retrieved two spent shell casings, which he later gave to police. There are two snippets of security camera footage of the incident, but they present mere fragments: the first angle is short, with the two men walking in and out of the frame; the second one captures the action from a distance, leaving only grainy, blurry figures maneuvering around each other as two shots ring out in the night.
And so the prosecutors have been forced to rely on Ephron, the victim, who admitted to friends that all he really wanted was for Mayers to pay him. During his nearly five days of testimony, Ephron appeared irritable and aggrieved. He contradicted himself, rose to anger, and claimed certain pieces of evidence, like a recording of a phone call between him and a friend, were “fake” and created with the help of artificial intelligence. At times, he appeared to even try to give an honest answer.
Defense attorney Joe Tacopina devoted much of his five-and-a-half hour closing statement, spread out over two days, to tearing down Ephron, calling him a “clown,” a “parasite,” and “perhaps the most unbelievable witness in the history of jurisprudence.”
He also criticized what he called “deficiencies” in the evidence presented by prosecutors — like the lack of evidence showing that the shell casings were found by Ephron at the scene or that Ephron even went back to the parking lot where the incident occurred.
Tacopina has argued throughout the trial that Mayers was carrying a prop gun that night, which he obtained while shooting a music video. The shots he fired, his attorney says, were nothing more than blanks. Tacopina also argued that Mayers only fired to stop Ephron from attacking a friend of his, Illijah Ulanga, who was also there that night.
During his rebuttal argument, Deputy District Attorney John Lewin pointed out the contradiction between the two arguments: if it was a prop gun, how could it be an effective way to ward off an attack?
“If it’s not a real gun, it’s not self-defense,” Lewin said.
Lewin admitted that Ephron, who also goes by A$AP Relli, was “a very problematic victim. In a lot of ways, he wasn’t very sympathetic. I’m not here to get you to like Relli.” But Lewin pointed out that Relli’s life had been upended by the shooting — after he went to the police, friends of Mayers labeled him a “snitch,” rendering him a pariah and sinking his talent management business.
“Obviously he was uncooperative,” Lewin told the jury. “He’s facing death threats. He is up there not wanting to answer any question about his family.”
Mayers, a famous and thrice-Grammy-nominated recording artist, is the common law husband of even more famous pop star Rihanna, who has been in court for a good portion of the trial, including most of Tacopina’s closing statement. On Thursday, she brought their two young children.
Lewin, during his rebuttal, questioned that move. At the mere mention of his kids, Mayers frowned and looked around, visibly agitated. Later, with the jury out of the room, Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold admonished Lewin: “Do not mention, again, Rihanna being in the courtroom or the babies being in the courtroom.”
The trial has been marked by ill feelings between Lewin and Tacopina, both relatively famous as far as lawyers go. Early in the trial, they appeared to come close to blows, with Tacopina being held back by his client, Mayers.
On Friday, the attorneys renewed hostilities. Tacopina, in his closing, suggested the prosecutors had “accepted” Relli’s perjury. During a break, with the jury out of the room, Lewin repeated his objection, reminding Arnold that the judge had already told the lawyers not to disparage each other.
“They accept the fact that their witness committed perjury,” Tacopina said with a shrug of his broad shoulders. “That’s fair comment.”
“It is not fair comment,” Lewin retorted. “It is completely unethical.” It showed, Lewin said, that Tacopina “doesn’t know or doesn’t care about the law” and suggested that the behavior was of a piece with the defense attorney hiding evidence.
“You’re disparaging him right now,” said Arnold, though he went on to say he agreed with Lewin. The ruling did little to stop the bickering.
“I’ve just about had it from him,” Tacopina said. He mentioned a Ninth Circuit ruling overturning a conviction secured by Lewin, which suggested the prosecutor had lied. Lewin then threatened to go public with “all that’s gone on” in the case.
“Oh I’m so scared,” Tacopina said.
“You should be!” shouted Lewin, red-faced. Tacopina then called Lewin a “hunchback.” Mayers laughed. Lewin replied that Tacopina is using “steroids.”
As the fight coasted to an end, Lewin asked, “Any idea when you’re going to be finished?”
“Whenever the fuck I want!” Tacopina barked.
In his rebuttal, Lewin began with a joke: “Over lunch, I had a nightmare that Mr. Tacopina was only halfway done.” The jury laughed. He then proceeded to speak for nearly three hours, bringing the total time of the prosecution’s closing statements to roughly five-and-a-half hours.
The jurors will assemble on Tuesday to begin deliberations. If they decide to convict Mayers, he’ll face up to 24 years in prison.