A$AP Rocky faces trial over supposed shooting of friend

LOS ANGELES (CN) — The trial of famed hip-hop artist A$AP Rocky opened on Friday, as prosecutors and defendants gave the jury sharply contrasting depictions of a 2021 Hollywood shooting that may or may not have happened, which injured no one and which left little physical evidence.

The 36-year-old rapper — whose real name is Rakim Mayers, and is the partner of pop star Rihanna — is charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Prosecutors say he fired two shots from a handgun at his longtime friend, A$AP Relli, whose real name is Terell Ephron, during an argument on the sidewalk.

Ephron was not seriously hurt; he reportedly emerged from the altercation with a few scraped knuckles. During his opening statement to the jury on Friday, Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec said that the government would not try to prove that the bloody knuckles were the result of a bullet.

“Whether or not the victim was shot or injured will not be something you have to decide by the end of this case,” Przelomiec told the jury. Mayers, he added, “is not charged with attempted murder.”

Mayers and Ephron went to high school together in New York City. Along with a number of others, they formed the A$AP Mob rap collective, with each member adopting a moniker beginning with “A$AP,” which stands for “Always Strive and Prosper.” Two other members of the collective were present the night of the purported shooting: A$AP Illz and A$AP 12vvy.

Both sides agree that Mayers and Ephron had a falling out, and arranged to meet on Nov. 6, 2021, to hash out their differences.

Przelomiec told jurors that Ephron, “believed they would argue, and ultimately, this would lead to them repairing their relationship.” Instead, a scuffle broke out.

Security camera footage shows what appears to be Mayers and Ephron shoving each other, minutes before the shooting. Mayers can also be seen brandishing what looks like a handgun, at one time holding it behind his back, and later putting it into his waistband. Another camera angle shows what prosecutors say was the shooting itself, though the footage is grainy and difficult to make out.

Ephron didn’t tell police about the incident until days later. When he did, he produced two spent 9mm cartridges he said he found lying on the ground at the scene, when he returned an hour later.

Police had searched the area, in response to two 911 calls reporting shots fired. They had not found any cartridges or bullets, or indeed any bullet holes. Nor did they find the gun that Mayers is said to have used, though they did find a 9mm magazine for a Glock 43 in Mayers’ closet.

Mayer’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, told the jury, in his opening statement, that the magazine belonged to Mayers’ manager, and that the gun Mayers had been brandishing was actually a “starter gun,” or prop gun he had acquired while shooting a music video with Rihanna, and the two shots Mayers had fired were actually blanks.

“Rocky was advised by security to carry a prop gun to scare off potential attackers,” Tacopina told the jury. It was Ephron who had started the fight, and wasn’t deterred by the sight of the gun, Tacopina said, because, “Relli knew that that the gun wasn’t real. All of Rocky’s friends knew that Rocky carried a prop gun.”

After the shots were fired, Mayers fled the scene. But Ephron, according to Tacopina, stayed behind to fight A$AP Illz, punching him multiple times in the face — the real cause, Tacopina said, of Ephron’s bloody knuckles.

Tacopina said that Ephron returned to the scene of the fight an hour later and planted the cartridges himself, then filmed himself finding them. Tacopina told the jury that Ephron planned to extort money from his old friend. When that failed, he sued Mayers, asking for at least $30 million.

Ephron has also sued Tacopina himself. According to Tacopina, when Ephron hired an attorney, he was told to first report the crime to police.

“This case is all about money,” Tacopina said. “It’s nothing more than a money grab — a clear attempt at extortion by Relli.” He called Ephron a “liar” and a “perjurer,” and implied he was a criminal.

In text messages from after the incident displayed to the jury Friday, Ephron texted to Mayers, “U try killing me.”

Mayers denied the violent act, replying, “Rell wtf iz u talkin bout???” He added shortly after: “Stop making shit up rell.”

Ephron later texted a friend about the incident, stating his intentions to sue Rocky: “I wanna get this niggas money … he shot at me.”

The trial is expected to last two weeks. If convicted, Mayers faces up to 24 years in prison. On Tuesday, Mayers rejected a deal offered by prosecutors to plead guilty and serve six months in jail.

The trial is littered with celebrity and those who might be described as celebrity-adjacent. Deputy District Attorney John Lewin is known for his appearance in the HBO series “The Jinx” and for prosecuting its subject, Robert Durst.

Tacopina has represented such clients as Michael Jackson, Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez even and President Donald Trump in both his hush money case and civil rape trial. Even the first witness to be called in the case, a young LAPD patrolman named Thomas Zizzo, is the son of Erika Jayne, star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and ex-wife of disgraced attorney Tom Girardi.

Unlike many in LA trials, this one is being live-streamed; it can be watched on the Associated Press’ YouTube page, among other places.

The jury — 12 members and four alternates — were chosen from a pool of more than 100. Only four members of the juror pool were black, which drew criticism from Al Sharpton. None of them were chosen for the jury.

Prior to opening arguments, the two sets of lawyers clashed over a ballistics report unearthed by prosecutors Thursday night. The report, according to Lewin, the prosecutor, showed that the two expended casings found by Ephron had marks on them that could only have been made from certain handguns, among them a Glock 43.

Lewin called the report “a very minor and simple ballistics interpretation,” but said it was “inculpatory,” in arguments made to the judge while the jury waited in the hallway.

“We already knew the defendant had a Glock 43. Now, there’s going to be evidence that suggests a Glock 43 is more likely to have put the marks on the expended casings than other firearms,” he added.

Tacopina, nearly overcome with emotion, said the evidence was suspiciously late, having been presented after the jury was empaneled and on the eve of opening statements.

“I’m trying to keep my composure,” Tacapino said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been this upset in a courtroom.”

He asked the evidence to be excluded; barring that, he asked that the jury be sent home and that the trial be delayed.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold — a ornery, no-nonsense judge resembling William Holden but with a white handlebar mustache and slicked back white hair — declined to do so. But he did tell prosecutors they couldn’t mention the ballistics report in their opening argument, in order to give the defense team time to contact their own expert witness, which he said the court would pay for.

“The evidence is relevant,” Arnold said. “It’s not a smoking gun … That is the final ruling. And I don’t want to hear anything more about it.”

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