Home » Will ASAP Rocky’s L.A. shooting trial derail his superstar career? – Jobsmaa.com

Will ASAP Rocky’s L.A. shooting trial derail his superstar career? – Jobsmaa.com

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ASAP Rocky is about to hit the peak of his career – or have the worst year of his life.

The 36-year-old Brooklyn rapper and Rihanna star are set to drop their first solo album in nearly a decade and have been announced as co-headliners for Los Angeles' Rolling Loud festival this March. The “Fashion Killa” is expected to serve as the celebrity chair of the prestigious Met Gala in New York, alongside LeBron James and Pharrell Williams, and he stars in the Spike Lee film. Spring.

But his victory could be derailed in the next few weeks if he is convicted in 2021 of a shooting in Los Angeles that could send him to prison for nearly 20 years.

Jury selection began Tuesday in a trial in which Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Meyers, faces two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. He shot and wounded Terrell Ephron, a fellow founding member of ASAP Mob, the Harlem rap group that helped launch Meyers' career.

Meyers has denied all wrongdoing, and his attorney, Joe Tacobina, has repeatedly attacked what he sees as weaknesses in the case in court filings and media appearances.

Nearly a dozen Los Angeles police officers responded to the scene of a 2021 Hollywood shooting, but found no evidence of a crime, according to court filings. Later, Efron returned to the scene and recovered two shell casings, but Dacopina said there was no forensic evidence of the Mayers shooting and no eyewitnesses beyond the victim.

Efron's injuries amounted to a graze wound, and Tacobina argued publicly for the first time Tuesday that the weapon involved was actually a “prop gun” that couldn't fire real bullets.

On Tuesday, prosecutors offered Meyers a deal that would have given him a seven-year suspended sentence and only six months in prison, but the rapper rejected it. Meyers, who appeared in a knee-length leather trench coat and black surgical mask, looked calm as he walked through the court, stopping to thank a passerby for complimenting his jacket.

“The case against Rocky is fundamentally weak,” Tacobina said. “It relies on the testimony of people who are not credible, and I believe the defense is very strong.”

A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office declined to comment on the strength of the evidence in the case.

Prosecutors allege Meyers shot and killed Efron, also known as ASAP Reilly, after a heated argument over Meyers' alleged failure to pay for the funeral of another founding member of their group.

Efron denied being jealous of Meyers' star turn He testified at a preliminary hearing last year. But he said almost every member of the ASAP gang, except for the mayors, was “broke or bummed”. Many have died of drug overdoses since the group was founded in the late 2000s.

Efron texted Meyers in October 2021 saying, “It's sad you faked it,” according to testimony presented in court last year. “Never forget who introduced you to this life… You saw me in pieces when I was at my lowest.”

Efron later admitted that Meyers paid for ASAP Josh's funeral. A month later, Efron Lowes was staying at a Hollywood hotel when he woke up to missed calls from Meyers and two other founding members of the group: Ilijah Ulanga, who goes by the pseudonym ASAP Illz, and Jamel Phillips, who goes by the alias ASAP Twelvyy, according to preliminary hearing testimony. .

Meyers asked Efron where he was, then sent a follow-up text saying, “Let's see.”

The group eventually crashed on Argyle Avenue near the W Hollywood Hotel. In a confrontation partially captured by surveillance video, Efron said, Meyers grabbed him by the collar, pulled a gun from his waistband and pressed his old friend in the chest, stomach and head. Efron yelled at Meyers to fire, but the fight was stopped as several people walked away.

Efron said Meyers put the gun in his waistband and started walking away. Efron then proceeded to insult Ulanka and Phillips, while cursing at Meyers, who said, “I'm letting him know how everybody feels — because nobody has the guts to say how they feel about this man.”

Efron responded by saying, “Rocky turned and shot me.”

Video of the incident shows the mayor holding a gun, but it doesn't fire.

In a preliminary hearing last year, Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Przelomiec showed a picture of Ephron with several of his fingers skinned raw, apparently the extent of his injuries.

Efron alleged that Meyers fired three or four shots. He said he texted the rap star accusing him of trying to kill him. Meyers scoffed at the allegations and accused Efron of extortion, saying, “Call the police if I shoot.”

Two days later, Efron did just that inside the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood station, saying he arrived from the scene with two shell casings, evidence that officers in the same division failed to find.

TACOPINA – Journalist who previously defended President Trump, E. Jean Carroll's civil defamation lawsuit against Trump accused Trump of rape — pointing to Ebron also filing a civil suit against the mayors, and characterizing the entire ordeal as a financial shakedown. By Efron.

On Tuesday, Dacopina said in court that he plans to argue that the gun involved in the incident was a jammer and incapable of firing bullets.

“There's a reason why 10 police officers searched and found no shell casings,” Tacobina said last week.

The most successful of his vast New York rap group, Meyers rose to fame in 2011. He quickly found commercial success, joining Kendrick Lamar as an opening act on Drake's 2012 arena tour. His next two albums, “Long.Live.ASAP” and “At.Long.Last ASAP,” debuted on the Billboard 200.

In recent years, he has become a tabloid celebrity as Mr. Rihanna. The two artists went public about their relationship in 2021. In 2023, they welcomed their first child, RZA Meyers, followed by second son, Rhiand Ross. Meyers appeared to have successfully transitioned into a healthy dad with underground rap and high-culture accolades, including a famous 2023 Vogue cover that showed him and a pregnant Rihanna walking hand-in-hand on the beach.

It's unclear if Rihanna will attend the hearing in support of the mayors. Tacobina called it a “family decision,” and a representative for the “Umbrella” artist did not respond to an email.

This isn't the first time Meyers' run-in with the police has threatened his life. He was arrested in Sweden in 2019 after a man accused the artist and his entourage of beating him on the street in Stockholm. His incarceration became a minor international incident, with President Trump tweeting, “Free Rocky soon.” Meyers was convicted of assault and given a suspended sentence.

The trial could provide courtroom fireworks between two bombshell lawyers. Across the aisle from the hapless and bruised Tacobina, whose thick Brooklyn accent was “ridiculous” in court while speaking to potential jurors on Tuesday, the district attorney's office added its biggest attack on the case in the Subdistrict. Atty. John Levine, who He won a murder charge against prominent New York real estate heir Robert Durst In 2021.

Neither Levine nor a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office would comment on the reason for the last-minute addition to the case. It was not until January 15 that he became involved in the matter. Charges were first filed against the mayors in August 2022.

A decorated prosecutor, Levin usually handles cold cases for the major crimes division, but was sidelined for years because of a bitter and public feud with the former district. Atty. George Gascon. Levine, the newly elected political ally of the district. Atty. Nathan Hochman recently settled a lawsuit against the county alleging Gascon fired him for criticizing its policies.

“I don't care,” Dagopina said, laughing last week when asked about Levin's inclusion in the case and daring Hochman to try the case.

Times staff writer Matthew Ormseth contributed to this report.

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