A judge has ruled that A$AP Rocky will ben ordered to stand trial in Los Angeles on two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic weapon. Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar made the ruling at at a preliminary hearing, after hearing roughly a day and a half of testimony from two witnesses. Rocky, 35, whose given name is Rakim Mayers, has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
Rocky is accused of pointing a handgun at another hip-hop artist and former friend, Terell Ephron, during a heated argument, then firing twice in Ephron’s direction during a second confrontation. Both encounters occurred on Nov. 6, 2021. Ephron, who has performed under the stage name as A$AP Relli as part of a hip-hop collective that once included both men, has also filed a civil lawsuit against Rocky. Rocky was arrested in connection with the altercation five months later, in April 2022, as he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on a flight from Barbados. He was charged in August of that year.
Rocky’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, argued in court that prosecutors failed to present sufficient proof that a shooting had even occurred, relying on various surveillance videos and testimony that the defense said were inconclusive. The defense also questioned the veracity of Ephron’s testimony that he believed his left hand had been grazed in the gunfire.
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