After three weeks on trial, A$AP Rocky was found not guilty on Feb. 18 for two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon against A$AP Relli. Rocky and Relli have been longtime friends from the Harlem A$AP Mob hip-hop group before their falling out, which is where the ‘A$AP’ in each of their stage names originates from.
The trial began from an allegation made in 2021, where Relli claimed that Rocky had fired a handgun twice, injuring his right hand during an altercation. The prosecution provided a video of Rocky with said gun to support the claim.
The defense and witnesses, A$AP Twelvyy and A$AP Illz, maintained that the gun was a prop gun that Rocky was informed to keep on him because he had a stalker. They claimed that Relli was aware of the stalker and prop gun and Rocky had only pulled it out in defense of Illz.
The largest piece of missing evidence in the case was that no gun could be found by the police that night despite Relli claiming to have found two 9-millimeter shell casings at the scene. The defense also shared three audio recordings of Relli stating that if a check were made out to him by Rocky, he would not testify against him. However, Relli claimed they were faked recordings made with artificial intelligence.
At one point during the trial and cross-examinations, Judge Mark Ronald asked Relli to take it easy, which only caused more frustration from Relli as he had been lashing out throughout the trial.
Upon hearing the verdict, Rocky instantly dove over to his partner and the mother of his children, Rihanna, who made several appearances in support of him. She later went on Instagram and posted, “The Glory belongs to God and God alone. Thankful, humbled by his mercy!”
When exiting the courtroom, Rocky thanked the jurors for saving his life. Before the jurors made their decision, Deputy District Attorney John Lewin urged them not to be influenced by the family appearances of Rihanna and their children. Lewin said, “We are all responsible for our own actions in the world.”
Outside the courthouse, Rocky’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, said Rocky did not want her in the courtroom. “Wild horses couldn’t keep her away,” Tacopina said.
Later that evening, Rocky posted “DON’T BE DUMB” on X, announcing the name of his upcoming album.
Two days after the verdict was reached, Relli went on Instagram to post a statement. “Gossiping is a form of entertainment for people who have no meaningful goals or purpose in life,” he said. “Hate me, bring shame to my name, say bad things about me, I don’t care. Your existence doesn’t add any value in my life.”
