A$AP Rocky will stand trial on felony charges for allegedly firing a gun at his former friend and collaborator A$AP Relli (real name Terell Ephron) in November 2021.<\/p>\n
Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar ruled that there is enough evidence to bring the artist to trial during a preliminary hearing, which included testimony and a new video. The new clip brought upon by prosecutors was a view of the neighborhood and reportedly hears two loud pops during the same time of the supposed shooting, and also allegedly sees Rocky by the corner of the incident and slowing his pace as he walks in front of buildings.<\/p>\n
“The court agrees with the defense that you don\u2019t see an actual shooting on the video. Later, in another section of video, you do hear two shots,\u201d Judge Villar said when she made the ruling, agreeing with the prosecution that \u201ctempers were heightened on both sides.” She also took long Relli’s testimony, where he alleged that the shots Rocky fired grazed his left knuckles, into consideration, \u201cIn any event, Mr. Ephron does what appears to be a dance around the other individuals to avoid being shot. His testimony is that he was shot.”<\/p>\n
Rocky’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, cross-examined Los Angeles Police Department Detective Frank Flores, who was the only witness to testify during the November 20 preliminary hearing. Flores revealed that there were no weapons recovered and that no fingerprints were found on the two bullet casings Relli handed over to the authorities two days after the supposed incident. In addition, Flores noted that “nothing definitively shows” the alleged shooting in any of the videos submitted.<\/p>\n
Rocky will return to court on January 8, 2024 for his re-arraignment.<\/p>\n
\u201cA scintilla of evidence is enough. It\u2019s a probable cause hearing. The trial is going to be very different,\u201d Tacopina said. He added that Rocky may testify during the trial, \u201cCommon sense is going to prevail and we\u2019re going to get (Rocky) through this, and he\u2019s going to be vindicated.\u201d He warned, \u201cThe evidence we have that they don\u2019t know about is going to be devastating \u2014 devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n