The case against Rakim Mayers, professionally known as A$AP Rocky, is ending. The Harlem rapper decided not to testify on his own behalf, and his attorneys rested their defense against the charges.
According to ABC News, the defense team, led by former Donald Trump attorney Joe Tacopina, rested their defense in the case that alleges that A$AP Rocky shot at his former friend and A$AP Mob group member, A$AP Relli, in Hollywood on Nov. 6, 2021.
Los Angeles prosecutors charged the “Live. Love. ASAP” recording artist with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm for allegedly firing at the former A$AP Mob member.Rocky pleaded not guilty to the two felony counts, and before the trial started, Rocky reportedly rejected a last-minute plea deal from prosecutors that would have placed him in prison for
six months. He would have also received a suspended seven-year sentence plus three years of probation. Prosecutors wanted him to enter a guilty plea for one of the two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.If Rocky is convicted, he’s looking at a prison sentence of up to 24 years.
The defense and prosecution will deliver their closing arguments on Thursday, Feb. 13.
During the trial, Relli claimed that Rocky shot at him two times during the incident.
“[Rocky] turned around, and then it was, like, BOOM! The whole thing was like a movie; he kind of like pointed down and he shot the first shot.”
Relly stated his hand was “grazed” by the first bullet and felt “hot.”
Rocky asserts that he didn’t use a gun but a starter pistol, as confirmed by another A$AP Mob member, A$AP Twelvyy. He testified that he witnessed Rocky carrying the prop on “several occasions.”
“He walked around with a prop, like a starter pistol,” Twelvyy told the courtroom on Friday, Feb. 7. “I seen it on several occasions.”
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