A$AP Rocky has been found not guilty on two counts of first-degree assault
The Harlem rapper was charged with assault with a firearm in connection to the alleged November 2021 shooting of his former collaborator, A$AP Relli. The incident occurred in the Hollywood area during an argument between the two artists. He faced up to 24 years in prison after turning down a plea deal for 180 days in jail.
While on the stand, Relli testified Rocky pointed a gun at his stomach and head during the beginning of their confrontation before later firing the shots that grazed his knuckles. He also said Rocky threatened to kill him.
During one crucial moment in the trial, Relli confirmed he was at a Los Angeles gun range in a video filmed just two weeks before the incident. This admission gave an opening for Rocky’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, to further a theory that Relli planted the two 9 mm shell casings he purportedly found at the crime scene after police came up empty.
While being questioned by deputy district attorney Paul Przelomiec, however, Relli was insistent that he did not fabricate or plant any evidence related to the case, pointing to the fact that he initially told police that there were three or four gunshots. “If I planted, [I] would have brought exactly what I said [at first],” he said.
For his part, Rocky claimed he never fired any live bullets, but instead used a “prop gun” that only shoots blanks to fire two “warning shots” to break up a fight between Relli and A$AP Illz, another member of the A$AP Mob collective. However, the defense did not have the alleged prop gun in their possession.
To back up the defense’s claim, Rocky’s longtime friend and collaborator A$AP Twelvyy was called to the stand, confirming that he saw Rocky carry a starter pistol on “several occasions,” including the night of the incident. Twelvyy also testified that Rocky only fired the gun after Relli started punching Illz.
What’s more, Twelvyy claimed not only had Relli started the fight, but he recognized the pistol wasn’t real when Rocky pulled it out. “[Relli] told [Rocky] to shoot that fake-ass gun,” Twelvyy said under direct examination from the defense.
Rocky opted not to take the stand during the trial, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to not testify.
A$AP Rocky was previously arrested in Stockholm, Sweden following an altercation with a man in the street. After spending more than a month in detention awaiting trial, he was found guilty and allowed to return home to America.