During the night, he reportedly photographed a founding member of the New York rap crew. ASAP Rocky said he only had “prop guns” on his music video shoot that couldn’t fire real bullets.
During arguments in the rap star’s Los Angeles assault trial, defense attorney Joe Tacopina painted Rakim Mayers as Rocky.
Prosecutors have accused Terrell Ephron, aka Terrell Ephron, of shooting him on the corner of Hollywood Street after a heated argument on November 6, 2021. The two were longtime friends and members of the Harlem Rap Crew ASAP. “Prosperity” – but it has grown in recent years.
Much of the prosecution’s case was aired during preliminary hearings last year, but this week the public got its first look at Tacopina’s defense strategy. For an hour on Friday afternoon, Tacopina reported only Myers to the police in an attempt to bolster his civil suit while ruining Efron’s credibility and claiming he knew Meyers had a fake weapon.
Tacopina noted that LAPD officers had “no evidence” of a shooting when they responded to 911 calls that night, and questioned whether Efron, who was not a police officer, could have recovered the two shell casings when he returned to the scene. raised. After some time.
“What’s happening is that Lily returned to the scene an hour later and attempted to produce evidence,” Tacopina said. “This is unpleasant stuff.”
But prosecutors made the disclosure shortly before arguments began on Friday.
Deputy Director Dist. Artie. John Lewin said prosecutors received “ballistics evidence” late in the day from the Los Angeles Police Department’s robbery call unit the day before trial. According to Lewin, the analysis confirmed that the shell casings recovered from the shooting scene were likely fired from a 9mm handgun. Lewin said the “somewhat unique” markings could match a “subset” of Glock firearms.
Although police did not find the weapon used in the shooting, the evidence could potentially undermine Tacopina’s “prop gun” defense. This is because such devices are capable of firing blanks rather than 9mm rounds.
Tacopina was boosted by the 11th-hour revelations and asked Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold to open arguments or restart jury selection in light of the new information. Arnold denied both requests, noting that evidence, such as witnesses claiming Mayers was the shooter, did not relate to the “smoking gun.”
“This is not right. “It’s not fair to him,” Tacopina said, pointing to Myers.
An LAPD spokeswoman could not immediately explain why there was such a delay in evidence in the case police presented to prosecutors in 2022.
Tacopina said the incident was about Efron’s “jealousy, lies, and greed.” He also pointed to text messages sent by Efron in which he claimed to “get money” from Myers.
“This case is about money… Relli’s extortion attempts allowed him to fund his extravagant lifestyle,” Tacopina said.
Tacopina said it was a “miracle” that Efron was able to retrieve the shell casing after seven LAPD officers searched it and found nothing. He repeatedly called the prosecution’s chief witness a “consignor” who knew Meyers was carrying a prop gun.
According to Tacopina, he has a permit to carry a concealed weapon in California, but did not pack an actual firearm, despite receiving threats in the months leading up to the shooting. Tacopina said Mayers took a prop gun with him while on the set of a recent music video he filmed with his longtime partner, Rihanna, with whom he has two children.
In his opening statement, Deputy Commissioner Dist. Artie. Paul Przelomiec said the case was not “uncomplicated” and that the pair had surveillance video showing Mayers and Ephron arguing and wrestling with each other on Argyle Avenue in Hollywood.
Mayers, flanked by other founding members of the ASAP crew, can be clearly seen pulling a handgun from his waistband in one video. The second clip captures an audible pop that sounds like a gunshot wound, but the clip does not capture the shooting directly.
Przelomiec described Mayers as the aggressor in the incident, pointing to texts he sent Ephron asking to meet hours before the shooting. They have been arguing over the texts in recent weeks because Ephron mistakenly believed Mayers had failed to pay for the funeral of a fellow crew member who died of a drug overdose.
Although the injuries suffered by Efron were very minor, photos showed small scratches on both of his knuckles. Przelomiec noted that serious injuries were not required for a jury to find a person guilty of assault. Przelomiec also said he was not concerned that the LAPD did not find shell casing at the scene, and that 911 calls on the night of the incident did not pinpoint the exact location of the shooting.
Przelomiec also pointed to a search warrant executed at Mayers’ Los Angeles Residence in 2022, where police recovered a half-empty 9mm magazine. Tacopina countered that the ammunition contained in the magazine was a different brand than the type Ephron recovered from the scene. There is no forensic evidence tying Meyer to the shell casing.
Tacopina said the case relies entirely on Efron’s testimony.
“This case either increases or decreases his credibility. The video seen without his testimony proves absolutely nothing,” Tacopina said. “You have to believe his testimony and his version of events in the video to substantiate these charges.”
Meanwhile, Przelomiec painted a portrait of betrayal. When Ephron met with Myers, hoping to mend their fractured friendship, she expected to be met with no violence.
“In his state of mind, he did not believe he was going to be shot. He did not believe the defendant was actually going to shoot him,” Przelomiec said. “He will say that this was a stranger to you, someone he did not know, and he would have been petrified.”
But as their argument escalated, according to Przelomiec, in the seconds before he allegedly was shot, Efron had a realization.
“These people did not come here to make peace with him,” the prosecutor said.
