LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A judge said he expects a jury to be chosen Thursday in the trial of rapper A$AP Rocky, who is facing assault charges stemming from allegations he pulled a gun on a hip-hop artist during an altercation in Hollywood and then fired at him soon after in a separate confrontation.
Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold assured prospective jurors late Wednesday afternoon that “this is not going to go on forever,” and that he is “pretty sure” a jury will be selected Thursday.
The judge and attorneys have spent the bulk of two days so far talking with potential jurors, who have been asked a series of questions, including whether they can treat the 36-year-old rapper — whose real name is Rakim Mayers — the same as they would anyone else.
“There should be no role of celebrity in this case,” the judge said, noting that Mayers and his “life companion” — singer Rihanna — are both famous.
Potential jurors are due back in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom for more questioning Thursday morning, with the prosecution having used just one of its peremptory challenges and the defense having used four of its challenges to remove prospective panelists. The judge noted that both sides have a “limited number” of challenges.
Mayers was charged in August 2022 with two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, along with allegations he personally used a firearm during the pair of confrontations with Terell Ephron — also known as A$AP Relli — on the evening of Nov. 6, 2021.
Shortly before jury selection began Tuesday, the rapper rejected a potential plea deal. Mayers said he respectfully declined the prosecution’s offer of a six-month jail term, three years probation and a suspended seven- year term if he pleaded to one of the two assault charges against him.
One of Mayers’ attorneys, Joe Tacopina, said at a hearing Tuesday shortly before the trial began that the defense plans to call witnesses who are expected to testify that the gun was a “starter pistol” that he said Mayers carried as a prop for security reasons.
In November 2023, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar ruled there was sufficient evidence to allow the case against Mayers to proceed to trial.
Ephron testified during the November 2023 hearing that he saw Mayers outside a parking garage in an encounter partially caught on surveillance video and that Mayers pulled a gun from his waistband, put it toward his stomach and said, “I’ll kill you right now.”
He said the altercation seemed like it was “forever,” but was likely just seconds. He told the judge he decided to follow Mayers after seeing another man in the rapper’s entourage apparently putting a pocket knife away.
Ephron testified that he believed the rapper had become “big-headed” due to his success, telling Mayers he had “failed everybody” and claiming that no one else was brave enough to share their honest opinions with him.
“I just wanted him to hear my side,” he said, telling the judge he was never going to see him again.
Ephron said the man he knew as “Rocky” turned around and shot at him, saying he believed his left hand had been grazed by the gunfire. He said he waited until he got to New York to go to a hospital to seek medical treatment for his three injured knuckles, saying he was in pain.
Tacopina has maintained that Mayers is “truly innocent and he’s a victim in this case.”
Mayers — who is free on bond — was arrested in April 2022 at Los Angeles International Airport after arriving on a private plane from Barbados, where he had been on vacation with his then-pregnant girlfriend, Rihanna, according to NBC News and TMZ. The couple now has two children.
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