A$AP Rocky's defense team rests in alleged 2021 shooting case
A$AP Rocky's defense team rested their case on Tuesday morning as the rapper faces two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm for allegedly firing a gun at a former friend during an incident in Hollywood on Nov. 6, 2021.
The rapper, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, did not take the witness stand. Both the defense and the prosecution are expected to deliver their closing arguments to the jury starting on Thursday.
Mayers was charged on Aug. 15, 2022 with two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm for allegedly firing a handgun in the direction of Terrell Ephron during a confrontation.
He pleaded not guilty. If convicted, the Grammy-nominated rapper and partner to pop star Rihanna could face up to 24 years in prison.
Mayers and Ephron, whose professional name is A$AP Relli, were childhood friends and both part of the Harlem-based rap collective A$AP Mob.
Ephron, the prosecution's star witness, accused Mayers of firing a gun at him during a confrontation in his three days on the witness stand.
"[Rocky] turned around and then it was, like, BOOM!" Ephron said as he recounting the alleged shooting. "The whole thing was like a movie, he kind of like pointed down and he shot the first shot."
Ephron said his hand was "grazed" by a bullet and felt "hot." He said that he then grabbed one of their friends and stood behind him for cover, then Mayers allegedly fired again before leaving the scene.
The gun, which was never recovered by authorities, has been a focal point in this trial, with prosecutors arguing that the gun was real and showing the jury videos that appear to show the rapper holding a gun at the time of the incident.
A$AP Twelvyy, whose legal name is Jamel Da'Shawn Phillips, was also part of the A$AP Mob collective and testified in Mayers' defense Friday.
"He walked around with a prop, like a starter pistol," Phillips said, according to a Friday Associated Press report from the courtroom. "I seen it on several occasions."
Phillips suggested during his testimony that Ephron knew the gun wasn’t real and claimed that Mayers shot it to stop Ephron from attacking A$AP Illz, a fourth member of A$AP Mob who was also on the scene during the incident.
"Can you explain to me how pulling out a prop gun that Relli knew was fake was going to act as a deterrent to anything?" Deputy District Attorney John Lewin asked Phillips, according to the AP.
"The sound," Phillips said. "It’s so loud that you would think it was a real gunshot and move away."
Meanwhile, Ephron testified on Jan. 29 that the gun was "real" as prosecutors showed a photo of his left hand with red marks on three middle fingers, claiming that he was grazed by a bullet.
"Oh it was a real gun … I mean I was hit," Ephron said.
Ahead of the jury selection in this case, Mayers turned down a plea deal that was offered to him by prosecutors, the rapper's lead attorney Joe Tacopina confirmed to ABC News, which included a 180-day jail term.
"Yes, he was offered a plea deal but is not interested because he is actually innocent," Tacopina said.
ABC News' Alex Stone contributed to this report.
