A$AP Rocky’s lawyers seek favorable jurors on charges he shot former friend

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nearly a hundred jurors packed a Los Angeles courtroom again Wednesday with the chance to take their seats in court. essay by A$AP Rockywho is accused of shooting a former friend with a gun.

Los Angeles prosecutors have resumed questioning potential jurors, focusing on their attitudes toward police and celebrities.

Deputy Prosecutor John Lewin asked how many of the 12 people interviewed in the jury box consider themselves fans of Rihanna, who is Rocky’s longtime partner and the mother of his two young sons. Four answered yes.

He asked them if they would be concerned about the consequences of Rocky’s conviction – on two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearmwhich could lead to many years in prison — could have on Rihanna.

“You put it in my head, and now I’m like, ‘Oh, that would affect him,'” one woman responded in the jury box.

Rocky, who is out on bail and has pleaded not guilty, sat at the defense table in a black suit and watched the interrogation.

Rihanna wasn’t in court, but Rocky’s mother and sister were sitting in her section of the gallery.

Before the jury was convened, Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold asked who the women were and marveled at the youthful appearance of his mother, Renee Black.

“What were you, 7, when you had him?” » asked the judge. She said she was 26 years old.

“You are very beautiful,” the judge told her. “It’s on file.”

Jury selection began Tuesday after Rocky, 36, whose legal name is Rakim Athelaston Mayers, refused a deal that included 180 days in jail, seven years of suspended prison time and three years of probation if he pleaded guilty to one of the two counts.

Nearly a hundred potential jurors remained in the courtroom Wednesday. Opening statements will begin once 12 jurors and four alternates are seated. The trial was initially scheduled to last three weeks, but updated witness lists suggest it could last more than two weeks.

After the first day of jury selectionThe judge denied a request from defense attorneys for a hearing on the jury’s demographics. The defense said the geographic area from which potential jurors were drawn is 9 percent African American, but in its assessment of the room, less than 5 percent of those summoned were black.

Outside the jurors’ presence, Joe Tacopina, Rocky’s attorney, told the judge Wednesday that they plan to appeal the decision, given that there may be no black jurors seated.

“It bothers us, to say the least,” Tacopina said. “We’re in downtown Los Angeles, not some small town in Montana.”

The judge refused to suspend the appeal trial.

Rocky – a 36-year-old hip-hop star, fashion mogul and actor – has been named one of the celebrity presidents of the Met Gala in May, and plays a major role in a Spike Lee-directed film starring Denzel Washington that will be released shortly thereafter.

But his life could be turned upside down if he is convicted of shooting a gun at Terell Ephron, a childhood friend who testified that their relationship deteriorated and a feud came to a head in the night of November 6, 2021. Ephron testified that bullets grazed him. joints.