Harlem rapper, fashionista, and Rihanna’s longtime boyfriend A$AP Rocky this week pleaded not guilty to firing a weapon at former group member A$AP Relli, Rolling Stone reports.
Last November, during a preliminary hearing, Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar stated that A$AP Rocky, 35, would have to stand trial. Relli alleges Rocky shot in the direction of his former friend in a 2021 incident in Hollywood. Rocky has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
Rocky’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, who once represented former President Donald Trump, is confident that the rapper will be vindicated. He also stated that they are eager to get the trial “over with” so that the “LSD” rapper can focus on “enjoying his family.”
Tacopina is hoping that the trial will get started in September. Outside the courtroom, he also said that Rocky is “cool as a cucumber” as he prepares for his next hearing, scheduled for March 6.
“He’s a very strong character, a very strong individual,” Tacopina said.
Last year, prosecutors arrested Rocky, real name Rakim Mayers, claiming he pointed a gun at Relli and fired it twice toward him on Nov. 6, 2021, on the corner of Selma Avenue and Vista Del Mar Avenue.
According to TMZ, Relli filed a defamation lawsuit against Rocky and his attorney in September. In the suit, Relli alleged that Tacopina called him a liar, a money grabber, and an extortionist at Rocky’s direction. He said that Tacopina told TMZ and other media outlets that “Rocky didn’t commit a crime. It was an extortion attempt by a former associate, who threatened to make false, criminal accusations if Rocky didn’t pay him.”
Rocky is facing up to 24 years if convicted on the charges.
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