LOS ANGELES (CNS) – One day after a jury was sworn in, opening statements are expected Friday in the trial of rapper A$AP Rocky, who is charged with two counts of assault stemming from allegations he pulled a gun on a hip- hop artist during an altercation in Hollywood and then fired at him soon after in a separate confrontation.
Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold on Thursday instructed the seven- woman, five-man panel to return to the downtown Los Angeles courthouse Friday morning, when the jurors are expected to hear opening statements from attorneys from both sides.
Four alternate jurors — all women — were also chosen in case any jurors need to be replaced during the trial.
A$AP Rocky — whose real name is Rakim 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 36-year-old Mayers 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.
The couple’s celebrity status was frequently brought up during questioning of potential jurors.
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