Rapper A$AP Rocky has been discovered not responsible of felony assault, following a excessive profile trial in Los Angeles.
A jury returned the decision on Tuesday afternoon after deliberating for simply three hours. Upon listening to the decision, he hip-hop star, whose actual identify is Rakim Mayers, turned and ran to embrace jubilant supporters behind him – falling over as he did so.
“Thank y’all for saving my life,” Mayers instructed jurors as they left the courtroom.
The rapper, 36, was charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. If convicted, he may have confronted as much as 24 years in jail.
In the course of the trial, prosecutors claimed Mayers twice fired a gun at his former longtime good friend and fellow rapper A$AP Relli, throughout a dispute on a Hollywood road in 2021.
Relli, actual identify Terrell Ephron, was the important thing witness for the prosecution. In his testimony, which made up the majority of the prosecution’s case, he stated his knuckles had been grazed by one of many photographs, however he was in any other case unhurt.
The protection argued that Mayers fired blanks from a prop gun that he picked up from a music video set, bringing in two of the rapper’s inside circle to attest to that.
Mayers is the accomplice of worldwide megastar Rihanna, who attended a lot of the trial and introduced their two toddler sons to closing arguments. Nonetheless, deputy district lawyer John Lewin instructed their presence was an try to control jurors.
“They introduced in two cute youngsters… for closing argument,” Lewin stated. “They haven’t been right here every other time. And it’s important to ask yourselves, why youngsters that age could be right here in a scenario like this?”
He added, “You aren’t allowed to contemplate how this would possibly have an effect on Rihanna and his youngsters. We’re all liable for our personal actions on the planet.”
