If the gun is legal, you will not be found not guilty.
It reflects a famous line from another celebrity trial held in downtown Los Angeles. Atty. Paul Przelomiec told the Jurors that he decided the fate of ASAP Rocky and summed the incident into a simple question of whether the rapper’s claim that he wielded a fake gun in a suspicious shooting could be believed.
“In this case, there’s only one important question: Did he use a real gun or a fake gun?” he asked. “I’ve not argued anything else.”
The controversial three-week trial centers around a crumbling friendship within the ASAP Mob rap crew, which culminated in conflict outside the W hotel in Hollywood. Prosecutors allege Rocky, the Rakim Mayers, fired two shots after a heated debate.
His lawyers claim he has been falsely accused, claiming that the weapon is a prop shot from a set of music videos filmed with his paramar pop star Rihanna.
Rocky has faced nearly 20 years in prison if convicted of two assaults with a semi-automatic firearm.
Prosecutors said the November 6, 2021 case began when ASAP Relli (aka ASAP Relli) met with Rocky and repaired a falling relationship. The disparity was exacerbated by Efron’s false belief that Rocky failed to pay for another ASAP member’s funeral. Authorities say that Rocky had a conflict with two other members of the ASAP Mob. It claims to have appeared with a gun intended to resolve.
The video of the incident clearly captures Rocky carrying a gun, but the footage of the actual shooting is rough. According to LAPD officials, there is no forensic evidence linking Mayer to alleged attacks in response to the 911 call.
The only witness to identify Rocky as a archer is Efron, who struggled during his cross-examination. Defence counsel Joe Takopina portrayed him as a “perwitness” who only contacted the police after he had taken into custody of a civil lawyer to sue his former friend. Efron claimed he recovered the shell case at the crime scene and handed it over to police two days later when he reported the shooting.
At the beginning of the trial, Takopina admitted that he was the one who saw Rocky fired on video, but the lawyers alleged that his client used a fake weapon that fired only blank spaces. Several defense witnesses testified that Rocky began carrying fake firearms after being attacked at a nightclub.
During the closing discussion, Przelomiec described the defense of prop guns as a desperate 11-hour attempt to rewrite the facts.
Prosecutors carefully analyzed the key defense witnesses and asked whether the two ASAP crew members who were with Rocky on the night of the shooting never told police that the weapon was fake during the shooting and trial. I questioned it. Przelomiec also asked Rocky’s manager why he would return it to the music video co-director rather than preserve it as evidence of the trial.
“Have you proven your defense to you that this prop gun existed? The prosecutor said:
The person was not called as a witness by defense.
Przelomiec has rejected testimony about prop guns from Jamel Phillips of ASAP 12vvy and Jamel Phillips (ASAP Lough) of Louis Levin of ASAP Lou, tour manager of Rocky.
Takopina tore his final argument into Efron’s credibility, calling him “the worst witness in American jurisprudence history,” and he worked with the police just to force his superstar ex-friend . He also alleged that the prosecutors were unable to prove that the actual firearms were being used in the case.
Police found several firearms while searching for Rocky’s home, including a .44 Magnum at their bedside, but no weapon was matched with the shell casing that Efron had turned back. The search may have held the round recovered by Leli, uploading a magazine testimony by firearms experts.
However, Levin testifies that the magazine was him, and after drinking the night he left it at Rocky’s house.
Takopina raised the idea that Efron planted a shell case after catching him with multiple lies during cross-examination.
When asked if he had gone to the shooting range a few weeks before the incident, Efron said, “No doubt.” They’ll just produce a video showing Takopina fire a handgun in downtown LA range weeks before the suspected attack.
Przelomiec retorted that Ephron had returned from LA to New York and before the shooting, claiming it was impossible to transport used shell cases through security.
Efron claimed his audio on a phone call discussing the shooting with a mutual friend. However, another tape surfaced and he captured arguing about what he would do if he received a civil settlement in a shooting before trial.
“Basically, I’m on another island so it’s going to be difficult for the DA to find me,” Efron said on a recorded phone. His final argument.
“This is not justice for him,” Takopina said Friday. “It’s about payment and reward.”
Efron’s injuries in the shooting were minor, and in his hand it was a small pair of cuts. Prosecutors don’t need to prove the actual injury to meet the assault charges element, but Takopina hit a “scratch” because there is evidence that she had fired a blank that night.
“A knuckle scuff? They don’t believe it’s a gunshot wound,” Takopina said. “There are no bullets in the world where that could have been done. It rubs the top of one knuckle and dives into the second knuckle a bit…and then scoots. It would be one of the magic bullets to do it. ”
Takopina also fires a blank to fight Rocky and defend herself after Efron began a conflict and punched Phillips. Footage from the scene seems Efron hasn’t caught anyone attacking him, and Przelomiec has displayed a photo of Phillips without any visible injuries to his face from the day after filming.
Rocky refused to testify in her own defense and sat cautiously throughout most trials, except for a few times when Rihanna appeared in the gallery. She saw Prutzeromiek closing with two children from a nearby couple, and Rocky was able to see him playing with one of her sons in the hallway on Thursday.
Tension between the tacopina and the sub-ward. Atty. John Lewin, who was added to the case at the last minute in January, ran high during the trial.
The veteran prosecutor who won the murder conviction of real estate heir Robert Durst is known for his brand of fire. He has repeatedly accused Takopina of unethical behavior and misconduct during aggressive cross-examination of defense witnesses. At one point in the trial, he claimed that Takopina had challenged him to the fight. Takopina later laughed at Lewin at allegations of misconduct he faced in the wake of the Durst trial.
On Friday, the pair exploded in a fierce exchange of insults after Lewin accused Takopina of filing false misconduct allegations against the prosecution during his closing discussion. Lewin threatened to make public with “all that happened in this trial,” and Takopina responded with a laugh at the prosecutor’s face. Lewin then accuss Tacopina of taking steroids, before Tacopina calls him “fat” and “hunchback.” Takopina was led out of the room by his companions, and Rocky gave a big smile.
Lewin previously said he would not comment on the ongoing trial. Przelomiec refused to answer questions about what Lewin was referring to.
LA County Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold screams both Brush at various points in the trial and plans to hold hearings to weigh financial sanctions against both Takopina and Lewin. He said he is doing so.
Aside from celebrity drama and courtroom fireworks, Przelomiec argued on Thursday that the case was very simple.
“When you decide on a gun in this case, it’s a real gun,” he said. “This case is over.”
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