Rapper ASAP Rocky’s shooting trial just started, and lawyers are already weighing the potential influence his longtime partner Rihanna could have over the proceedings.
On Thursday, January 23, during jury selection and one day before lawyers delivered their opening statements, Deputy District Attorney John Lewin asked one prospective juror — a woman – if she would be able to deliver a guilty verdict to the defendant if Rihanna, 36, was present in court.
“What if Rihanna comes here to court, is it going to be hard for you to look over there and see the defendant’s family and deliver a guilty verdict?” Lewin asked the woman, as reported by the Associated Press.
According to the news outlet, the woman took a long pause before answering “yes.”
Rihanna was not in court on Thursday or Friday, January 24, when Rocky’s trial officially started. The 36-year-old rapper is charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm related to a 2021 shooting incident in Hollywood. Rocky is accused of firing four or five shots at Terell Ephron, a childhood friend, who claims the shots “grazed his knuckles,” per the Associated Press.
Rocky has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers say he committed no crime. If convicted, he faces up to 24 years in prison.
According to the Associated Press, it took both the prosecution and the defense two and a half days to select a set of jurors from a “pool of more than a hundred candidates.” Per the outlet, a podcast editor and actor, as well as a man who has worked at Trader Joe’s for more than 20 years, made the final cut.
While Rihanna — who shares two kids, RZA and Riot Rose, with Rocky — has yet to make an appearance in court in support of her partner, Thomas Zizzo Jr., son of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne, was present on Friday.
Getty Images (2) Day one of rapper ASAP Rocky’s assault trial served as a reminder of just how small Hollywood can be. Thomas Zizzo Jr., a Los Angeles police officer and son of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne, took the stand on Friday, January 14, during day one of the Grammy award-winning […]
The Los Angeles police officer took the stand on day one of the Grammy award-winning rapper’s trial, testifying as one of the first law enforcement officers to arrive on the scene of the alleged 2021 shooting incident. According to TMZ, the officer reportedly “testified about what he saw at the scene when he arrived.”
Rihanna, who started dating Rocky in late 2019, has been relatively silent about her partner’s legal troubles. Still, she has remained by his side. In an April 2024 interview with Interview, she spoke candidly about their relationship.
“We’ve known each other for a long time. I’ve seen him in relationships. He’s seen me in relationships. We’ve seen each other outside of relationships,” she said at the time. “We knew what we’re capable of, and the trouble that we could bring to each other’s lives. We can make or break each other’s hearts. And so, we started dating with a lot of caution.”
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