A$AP Rocky’s lawyer says ‘he isn’t ‘ in slicing a cope with the prosecution, lower than every week earlier than he goes to trial for the alleged taking pictures of a former band-mate and pal.
Legal professionals on each side obtained collectively on Wednesday to doubtlessly come to an settlement on a plea deal. However his protection attorneys and prosecutors had been unable to succeed in an settlement.
The trial is scheduled to go forward on January 21, beginning with the number of a 12-person jury.
Celebrity Rihanna’s boyfriend, Rocky, 36 – who was not current at a trial readiness listening to at a downtown Los Angeles felony courtroom on Wednesday – has pleaded not responsible to 2 felony costs of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
The rapper is going through as much as 24 years in jail if convicted of each.
Prosecutors and protection attorneys Joe Tacopina and Sara Caplan met within the chambers of LA Superior Courtroom Decide Mark Arnold to speak a few attainable ‘settlement deal’ earlier than Wednesday’s listening to.
A$AP Rocky is ‘not ‘ in slicing a cope with the prosecution, lower than every week earlier than he goes to trial for the alleged taking pictures of a former band-mate and pal
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky had been seen in New York Metropolis on January 2. The trial is scheduled to go forward on January 21 with the number of a 12-person jury
Protection lawyer Joe Tacopina (left) met with prosecutors within the judges’ chambers to speak a few attainable ‘settlement deal’ earlier than Wednesday’s listening to. Los Angeles Deputy District Legal professional Paul Przelomiec informed DailyMail.com no deal was made
The concept was that Rocky would plead responsible to a lesser cost and keep away from a trial that is anticipated to take as much as three weeks.
Los Angeles Deputy District Legal professional Paul Przelomiec informed DailyMail.com exterior the courtroom after the assembly: ‘We mentioned the opportunity of a settlement however no particular supply was made.’
Rocky’s lawyer Tacopina indicated that his shopper just isn’t involved in making a cope with prosecutors, telling DailyMail.com: ‘He didn’t commit a criminal offense.’
Calling the prosecution’s case ‘essentially weak’, he added: ‘Ten cops searched the scene and did not discover shell casings there.’
When requested if Rocky will testify at his trial, Tacopina stated: ‘I would not decide like that earlier than trial. However he’s keen to inform his story.’
The protection lawyer – who repped Donald Trump in high-profile circumstances involving Stormy Daniels and E. Jean Carroll – stated he did not know if Rihanna will probably be on the trial to assist the daddy of her two younger kids.
The fees stem from an altercation in Hollywood in November 2021 between Rocky and fellow rapper A$AP Relli who was a member with Rocky within the ASAP Mob rap group that began in Harlem in 2006
LA Superior Courtroom Decide Mark Arnold requested Rocky’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, if the rapper was legally married to Rihanna, however Tacopina stated he did not know
Decide Arnold invited Rihanna to attend the trial final October. However at Wednesday’s trial readiness listening to, the character of her relationship with Rocky turned a problem.
When the decide requested if Rihanna must be known as Rocky’s ‘common-law spouse,’ Tacopina replied: ‘Simply spouse, your honor.’
However when Decide Arnold requested him ‘Are they legally married someplace then?’ Tacopina answered, ‘I do not know’.
Deputy District Legal professional John Lewin at that time stated that if the 2 should not legally married, then throughout the trial the prosecution would favor to name them ‘companions or important others.’ The decide agreed.
The fees in opposition to Rocky, whose actual identify is Rakim Mayers, stemmed from a confrontation in Hollywood in November 2021 between him and fellow rapper Terell Ephron.
Ephron’s stage identify is A$AP Relli. He was a member of the ASAP Mob rap collective that began in Harlem, New York, in 2006 alongside Rocky.
Decide Arnold invited Rihanna in October to come back to felony courtroom to assist her boyfriend at his jury trial, however Tacopina stated he did not know if the celebrity could be there
Cops wrapped up their search at Rocky’s L.A. house in April 2022 and detectives left the property with a field stuffed with proof
At a preliminary listening to, prosecutors offered surveillance digital camera footage and testimony from Ephron and cops to assist their allegations that throughout the argument, Rocky pointed a handgun at Ephron, then fired it twice towards him – injuring his hand.
Ephron himself testified that Rocky held the gun to his abdomen and stated ‘I will kill you proper now,’ earlier than firing off rounds.
Tacopina has challenged the prosecution’s case, saying there wasn’t sufficient proof {that a} taking pictures had even occurred and referred to as the surveillance video proof and witness testimony ‘inconclusive’.
Ephron has filed a separate civil assault and battery lawsuit wherein his attorneys stated that Rocky ‘pulled out a handgun and purposefully pointed it within the route of (Ephron) and fired a number of pictures’.
Including that Ephron was ‘in concern for his life,’ the swimsuit stated that he was ‘struck by bullet projectile/fragments’ inflicting him accidents that required medical consideration.
Rocky was arrested in April 2022 at LAX airport as he stepped off a personal aircraft from Barbados the place he had been on trip with a number of Grammy-winner Rihanna, additionally 36.
A$AP Relli himself testified that Rocky held the gun to his abdomen and stated ‘I will kill you proper now,’ earlier than firing off rounds
If the rapper’s jury’s verdict in his felony trial goes in opposition to him, the organizers of New York’s Met Gala in Could could possibly be searching for a substitute for co-host since he is scheduled for it
Cops held him for a couple of hours on suspicion of assault with a lethal weapon, then launched him on the $550,000 bail and despatched the case to LA’s District Legal professional to prosecute.
It wasn’t until the next August that then DA George Gascon determined that the costs had been severe sufficient to press for felony standing, relatively than misdemeanor, which might have meant solely a most of 1 12 months jail time for every rely.
Rocky is topic to a protecting order demanding that he stays not less than 100 ft away from Ephron – who can also be suing Rocky and Tacopina for defamation.
In that defamation case, Ephron’s attorneys declare that Rocky and Tacopina, of their protection of the civil assault case, have slandered and defamed Ephron – wrongly accusing him of being a ‘liar, money-grabber and an extortionist.’
Tacopina dismissed the defamation lawsuit as nothing greater than a ‘publicity stunt’ and requested the courtroom to place the case on maintain till after the felony assault circumstances in opposition to Rocky are determined by a jury.
Ephron’s civil assault lawsuit in opposition to Rocky is already on maintain pending the end result of the felony trial.
In the meantime, if the jury’s verdict in his felony trial goes in opposition to him, the organizers of New York’s Met Gala in Could could possibly be searching for a substitute for vogue icon Rocky.
The rapper is scheduled to co-host the glittering occasion alongside LeBron James, musician Pharrell Williams, Formulation One ace Lewis Hamilton and actor and playwright Colman Domingo.
