On the night A$AP Rocky allegedly shot and killed a founding member of the New York rap crew that helped launch his career, he was carrying only the “prop gun” he used to shoot a music video, but no live ammunition. He was unable to fire, his defense attorney said Friday.
In opening arguments in the rap star’s Los Angeles assault trial, defense attorney Joe Tacopina cast Rocky (real name Rakim Mayers) as the victim, not the perpetrator, in an assault case that could carry up to 20 years in prison. I drew it.
Prosecutors have accused Meyers of fatally shooting Terrell Efron, also known as A$AP Leri, on a Hollywood street corner on November 6, 2021, after a heated argument. The two were longtime friends and members of the Harlem rap crew A$AP. “prosper” — but in recent years they had become estranged.
Much of the prosecution’s case was aired during a preliminary hearing last year, but this week was the first time Tacopina’s defense strategy was revealed to the public. For an hour Friday afternoon, Tacopina undermined Efron’s credibility by claiming that she only reported Meyers to the police in order to file a civil lawsuit, and that she did not know that Meyers was in possession of a fake weapon. He claimed that he had done so.
Tacopina pointed to the fact that when LAPD officers responded to a 911 call in the area that night, there was “no evidence” of a shooting, and Efron, not police, returned to the scene. He questioned how they were able to recover the two shell casings at the time. 1 hour later.
“What we’re going to learn is that Relli returned to the scene an hour later and tried to fabricate evidence,” Tacopina said. “This is offensive content.”
But just before opening arguments began Friday, prosecutors revealed facts that could upend that approach.
Deputy Ward Atty. John Lewin said prosecutors received belated “ballistic evidence” from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Unit on the eve of trial. Lewin said analysis confirmed that the shell casings recovered at the scene of the shooting were likely fired from a 9mm handgun. The “somewhat unique” markings may match a “subset” of Glock firearms, Lewin said.
Police did not find the weapon used in the shooting, but the evidence could undermine Tacopina’s “prop gun” defenses, since such devices fire blanks rather than 9mm rounds.
Tacopina was outraged by the 11th-hour revelations and asked Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold to either delay the start of arguments or reselect the jury in light of the new information. Arnold denied both requests, noting that the evidence did not amount to “conclusive evidence,” such as witnesses claiming Meyers was the shooter.
“This isn’t right. It’s unfair to him,” Tacopina said, pointing to Meyers.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department could not immediately explain why evidence was turned over so late in the case, which police presented to prosecutors in 2022.
Tacopina said the incident was about Efron’s “jealousy, lies and greed,” noting that the accuser did not report the shooting to the Los Angeles Police Department until two days after he hired a civil attorney. He also pointed to text messages Efron sent claiming he was going to “take this…money” from Meyers.
“This case is all about money… an attempt at extortion in order for Lelli to continue to fund his lavish lifestyle,” Tacopina said.
Tacopina said it was “miraculous” that Efron was able to recover the shell casings after seven LAPD officers searched and found nothing. He repeatedly called the prosecution’s lead witness a “perjurer” who knew Meyers had a prop gun.
Tacopina said Mayers has a concealed weapons permit in California but did not carry a real gun despite receiving threats in the months leading up to the shooting. Tacopina said Mayers took a prop gun from the set of a recent music video he was filming with his longtime partner Rihanna, with whom he has two children.
In his opening statement, the Deputy Director said: Atty. Paul Pzeromiec said the incident was not “complicated” and mainly played a pair of surveillance videos that showed Meyers and Efron arguing and fighting on Argyle Street in Hollywood.
In one video, Meyers can be clearly seen pulling a handgun from his waistband, flanked by two other founding members of the ASAP crew. The second clip captures an audible pop that sounds like a gunshot, but both clips directly capture gunshots.
Przeromiec said Meyers was the perpetrator in the incident, noting that Meyers sent a message to Efron requesting a meeting hours before the shooting. The two had been at loggerheads over email in recent weeks because Efron mistakenly believed Meyers wasn’t paying for the funeral of a fellow crew member who died of a drug overdose.
Although Efron’s injuries were very minor and photos showed small abrasions on two of her knuckles, Przeromiec said serious injuries were not necessary for a jury to convict Meyers of assault. . Przeromiec also noted that 911 calls from the night of the incident did not specify the exact location of the shooting, and said he was not concerned that LAPD did not find any shell casings at the scene.
Pzeromiec also noted that police recovered a half-empty 9mm magazine in a search warrant executed at Meyers’ home in Los Angeles in 2022. Tacopina countered that the ammunition in the magazine was a different brand than the type Efron said was recovered at the scene. There is no forensic evidence linking Meyers to the shell casing.
Tacopina said the case relies solely on Efron’s testimony.
“This case rises and falls depending on his credibility. Without his testimony, the video you saw doesn’t prove anything at all,” Tacopina said. “For these charges to be proven, we must believe his testimony and his version of events from the video.”
Meanwhile, Przeromiek paints a portrait of betrayal, and Efron goes to see Meyers in hopes of repairing their broken friendship, but did not expect to be met with violence.
“In his state of mind, he never expected to be shot. He didn’t believe the defendant would actually shoot him,” Pzeromiec said. “He would say if this was a stranger, someone he didn’t know, he would have been scared.”
But as the argument worsened, Efron said he realized seconds before he claimed he had been shot.
“These men did not come here to make peace with him,” the prosecutor said.
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