A courtroom broke out in cheers as A$AP Rocky was found not guilty in his felony assault trial.
The rapper embraced his partner Rihanna as the not guilty verdict of assault with a semiautomatic firearm was read out in court on Tuesday, February 18.
“Thank y'all for saving my life. Thank you. Thank y'all. You're making the right decision,” the rapper told the jurors.
Highlights
- A$AP Rocky was found not guilty in his felony assault trial.
- “The glory belongs to God and God alone!” Rihanna wrote in an Instagram Story following the verdict.
- A jury acquitted the rapper of two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
- Charges against Rocky stemmed from an alleged 2021 incident with former bandmate Terell Ephron—also known as A$AP Relli.
A$AP Rocky was found not guilty on Tuesday, February 18, in his felony assault trial
Image credits: Daniel Cole-Pool/Getty Images
Immediately after he heard “not guilty,” A$AP Rocky was captured jumping over the courtroom railing and rushing towards Rihanna, who was sitting in the front row of the courtroom.
The Umbrella singer later celebrated the victory with an Instagram post, saying: “The glory belongs to God and God alone!”
“Thankful, humbled by His mercy!” she added.
A jury acquitted the rapper of two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm
Image credits: Daniel Cole-Pool/Getty Images
Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, was acquitted of two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
The charges stemmed from an alleged 2021 incident with his former bandmate and friend, Terell Ephron—also known as A$AP Relli.
Rocky and Relli, who were both in the Harlem-based rap collective A$AP Mob since high school, had a scuffle when they met in Hollywood on November 6, 2021, prosecutors said.
Charges against Rocky stemmed from an alleged 2021 incident with former bandmate Terell Ephron—also known as A$AP Relli
Image credits: DUTCH/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images
Prosecutors accused Rocky of brandishing a gun and firing twice at Relli, who said one of the shots grazed his hand but did not seriously injure him.
Rocky’s lawyers and witnesses claimed the rapper had shot with a prop gun, which he carried around for safety, even though it only fired blanks.
They said he had fired with the prop gun because Relli was attacking another member of their crew, according to Rocky’s defense team.
Image credits: MEGA/Getty Images
Relli is “an angry pathological liar” who “committed perjury again and again and again and again,” Rocky’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, said in his closing argument.
The prosecution claimed that the prop gun explanation was “illogical” and “absurd.”
Following Tuesday’s verdict, Tacopina said A$AP Rocky had turned down a plea deal offered by the prosecutors because “he was innocent.”
“The glory belongs to God and God alone!” Rihanna wrote in an Instagram Story following the verdict
Image credits: extratv
The deal reportedly included a 180-day jail term if he would plead guilty to one charge. But Rocky turned down the prosecution’s offer and opted for a jury trial.
If convicted, Rocky would have faced up to 24 years behind bars.
The jurors did not speak to reporters or reveal whether their verdict was based on believing Rocky used a prop gun or acted in self-defense.
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky first met in 2012 and were friends for years before going public with their romance in November 2020.
They have since become parents to two sons, RZA and Riot.
“Hope they can put this behind and go and be a family,” a fan said about Rihanna and A$AP Rocky
