A$AP Rocky was described by a prosecutor Friday as the aggressor in a scuffle with a former friend in Hollywood in which the rapper allegedly pulled a gun on the man and fired twice, but the defense countered that the hop-hop artist was carrying a prop pistol that fired only blanks and was the victim of an extortion attempt by his jealous ex-homeboy.
The conflicting narratives were presented to a downtown Los Angeles criminal jury in the first day of A$AP Rocky’s trial on two counts of assault stemming from allegations he fired at Terell Ephron — also known as A$AP Relli — on the evening of Nov. 6, 2021.
“What will become almost instantly clear is that this is not a complicated case,” Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec told the jury, adding that the events of that night were captured on surveillance video.
A$AP Rocky — whose real name is Rakim Mayers — was arrested in April 2022 at Los Angeles International Airport after arriving on a private plane from Barbados, where he had been on vacation with his then-pregnant girlfriend, Rihanna. The couple now has two children, and Mayers is free on bond.
One of Mayers’ attorneys, Joe Tacopina, said in his opening statement that Ephron, who suffered scraped knuckles in the altercation, lied about evidence in the case in an effort to extort Mayers.
Ephron’s resentment of Mayers “is the catalyst for this incident,” Tacopina said, telling the panel that a month prior to the altercation, Ephron told a friend that he was going to beat Mayers up.
“It was Relli who was looking for a fight,” the defense attorney said. “The video shows that Relli made the first physical contact.”
Tacopina told the jury that Ephron was driven by “jealousy, lies and greed.”
Mayers was charged in August 2022 with two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, along with allegations he personally used a firearm during confrontations with Ephron. The charges could lead to up to 24 years in prison upon conviction.
Shortly before jury selection began Tuesday, the 36-year-old Mayers rejected a potential plea deal. Mayers said he respectfully declined the prosecution’s offer of a six-month jail term, three years probation and a suspended seven-year term if he pleaded to one of the two assault charges against him.
Tacopina said shortly before the trial began that the defense would call witnesses expected to testify that the gun was a “starter pistol” that he said Mayers carried as a prop for security reasons.
Ephron testified during the November 2023 preliminary hearing that he saw Mayers outside a parking garage in an encounter partially caught on surveillance video and that Mayers pulled a gun from his waistband, put it toward his stomach and said, “I’ll kill you right now.”
Ephron testified that he believed the rapper had become “big-headed” due to his success, telling Mayers he had “failed everybody” and claiming that no one else was brave enough to share their honest opinions with him.
“I just wanted him to hear my side,” he said at the preliminary hearing, telling the judge he was never going to see him again.
Ephron said the man he knew as “Rocky” turned around and shot at him, saying he believed his left hand had been grazed by the gunfire. He said he waited until he got to New York to go to a hospital to seek medical treatment for his three injured knuckles, saying he was in pain.
Przelomiec on Friday showed jurors a photo of Ephron’s knuckles, saying that it was irrelevant to the charges whether the injuries came from the shooting.
Tacopina has maintained that Mayers is “truly innocent and he’s a victim in this case.”
In describing Ephron as “a criminal and a perjurer,” the defense lawyer said seven police officers searched the scene of the shooting hours later but found neither shell casings or a weapon. Yet, after officers left, Ephron returned to the scene and discovered a pair of 9mm shell casings he said he had picked up from the street where he was shot at, Tacopina said.
Ephron is suing Mayers over the incident.
At various times during the opening statements, new Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman stood watching the proceedings from the back of the courtroom.
The trial is dark Monday, and resumes on Tuesday.