A Los Angeles judge invited superstar Rihanna on Tuesday to come to criminal court to support her boyfriend, rapper A$AP Rocky, at his upcoming jury trial for allegedly shooting a former friend and music partner during an argument.
‘If she wants to come she can come,’ LA Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold told Rocky’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, at a hearing where the trial was delayed - for a third time - till January.
Without using Rihanna’s name, the judge asked Tacopina if ‘the mother of (Rocky’s) two children’ would be attending the trial, which is expected to last between seven to ten days.
Tacopina said he didn’t know if she would be in court, but added that while she may come for the start, it’s unlikely she’d be there for the whole trial.
A Los Angeles judge invited superstar Rihanna on Tuesday to come to criminal court to support her boyfriend, rapper A$AP Rocky, at his upcoming jury trial for allegedly shooting a former friend and music partner during an argument
‘If she wants to come she can come,’ LA Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold told Rocky’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, at a hearing where the trial was delayed - for a third time - till January
Two days after, Rihanna and A$AP Rocky were seen enjoying a rainy day in Shanghai, strolling through the streets with an umbrella in hand
Judge Arnold told the defense lawyer and prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec, that Rocky - real name Rakim Mayers - shouldn’t expect any star treatment at his trial.
‘The fact that Mr Mayers is a celebrity will make no difference in this court,’ he said.
‘He is going to be treated like anybody else.’
Rocky’s trial date was continued from November 12 to January 21 to allow for the prosecution and defense to exchange witness lists and to assemble discovery evidence.
The judge reluctantly granted the continuance on Tuesday, noting that the trial had already been postponed twice.
But he warned both attorneys that he would tolerate no more delays saying: ‘I want jury selection to start on January 21.’
Rocky, 36 - who was not at the court in downtown LA Tuesday - has pleaded not guilty to two charges of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and he’s facing up to eight years in jail if convicted of both felonies.
Judge Arnold told the defense lawyer and prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec, that Rocky - real name Rakim Mayers - shouldn’t expect any star treatment at his trial
Tacopina said he didn’t know if she would be in court for the entire trial
The charges stem from an altercation in Hollywood in November 2021 between Rocky and fellow rapper Terell Ephron (pictured), whose stage name is A$AP Relli and who was a member with Rocky in the ASAP Mob rap group that started in Harlem in 2006
At his preliminary hearing last November, prosecutors presented surveillance camera footage and testimony from Ephron and cops to support their allegation that during the argument, Rocky pointed a handgun at Ephron then fired it twice toward him, injuring his hand.
Ephron himself testified that Rocky held the gun to his stomach and said Ill kill you right now, before firing off rounds.
Rocky’s attorney Tacopina - who has repped Donald Trump in some of the ex-President’s high-profile cases - challenged the prosecution’s case, said there wasn’t enough proof that a shooting had even happened and called the surveillance video evidence and witness testimony ‘inconclusive.’
But at the end of the preliminary hearing, Judge M.L. Villar decided that ‘the totality of the video and testimony shows there is sufficient evidence for the defendant to go to trial.’
Ephron has filed a separate civil assault and battery lawsuit in which his attorneys say that Rocky, ‘pulled out a handgun and purposefully pointed it in the direction of (Ephron) and fired multiple shots.’
Adding that Ephron was ‘in fear for his life,’ the suit says that he was ‘struck by bullet projectile/fragments’ causing him injuries that required medical attention.
Rocky’s attorney Tacopina challenged the prosecution’s case and said there wasn’t enough proof that a shooting had even happened - calling the surveillance video evidence and witness testimony ‘inconclusive
Ephron himself testified that Rocky held the gun to his stomach and said Ill kill you right now, before firing off rounds
Rocky was arrested in April 2022 at LAX airport as he stepped off a private plane from Barbados where he had been on vacation with multiple Grammy-winner Rihanna, also 36 PICTURED: Cops wrapped up their search at Rockys L.A. home in April 2022 and detectives left the property with a box full of evidence.
Cops held him for a few hours on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, then released him on the $550,000 bail and sent the case to the LA District Attorney’s office to prosecute.
It wasn’t till the following August that LA DA George Gascon decided that the charges were serious enough to press for felony status, rather than misdemeanor which would have meant only a maximum of one year jail time for each count.
Rocky is also subject to a protective order demanding that he stays at least 100 feet away from Ephron - who is also suing Mayers and Tacopina for defamation.
In that defamation case, Ephron’s lawyers claim that Rocky and Tacopina, in their defense 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 more than a ‘publicity stunt’ and asked the court to put the case on hold until after the criminal assault cases against Rocky are decided by a jury.
Ephron’s civil assault lawsuit against Rocky is already on hold pending the outcome of the criminal trial.