Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, was charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. He could have gotten up to 24 years in prison with convictions. The 36-year-old hip-hop star, fashion maven and actor is the partner of singing star Rihanna, who attended much of the trial and brought their two toddler sons to closing arguments.
During the weeks-long trial, prosecutors said that the popular rapper had shot a nine-millimeter semi-automatic weapon during a confrontation with Terell Ephron, also known as A$AP Relli, on November 6, 2021, in the heart of Hollywood, grazing Ephron’s hand.
The two had previously been friends, and had both been part of A$AP, a rap collective from New York, but had fallen out because other members of the group felt Mayers’ commercial success had made him arrogant.
Here’s a closer look at the deliberation process:
The jury could acquit him if they believed a defense argument that he only fired blanks from a prop gun that he carried for security, or if they believed he was acting in self defense. The jurors did not need to agree in their reasoning – or to explain it – they only needed to agree on the result. Each of the charges was for one of the shots. It would have been extremely unusual for them to find him guilty of one and not the other. A mistrial could have been declared, but they quickly were able to reach a consensus.
Rocky has been free on bail since his 2022 arrest. If he was convicted, he would have been taken into custody immediately, though his lawyers could have petitioned for his release until sentencing. He turned down a pre-trial plea deal that could’ve meant just six months in jail.
The evidence jurors looked at A$AP Relli’s testimony made up the bulk of the prosecution’s case. One surveillance camera captured the sound of the shots being fired. Another partially captured a scuffle shortly before the shooting. Yet another camera captured the incident itself, though it is small and blurry in the corner of the frame.
Jurors also considered text messages to Rocky and others that Relli sent before and after the incident. Relli has also filed a civil lawsuit, and said in the communications that he had a greater desire to be paid by Rocky rather than to see him prosecuted.
Defense witnesses included two members of Rocky’s inner circle who testified that he carried the prop gun.
(with agency inputs)
