ASAP Rocky arrived at a courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday for jury selection in his criminal assault trial. According to reporter Meghann Cuniff, Rocky rejected a deal from prosecutors to plead guilty to one assault charge in exchange for a sentence of 180 days in county jail with three years probation and a seven-year suspended prison sentence. Rocky is facing two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 24 years in prison. He's already pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings.
As for jury selection, Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold has said that he intends to seat a jury quite quickly. “I will let the jurors know that regardless of who a defendant is, whether they’re the richest person in the world or the poorest person, everybody is to be treated the same,” he said at a pretrial hearing caught by The Associated Press. With that in mind, opening statements could begin as early as later this week.
ASAP Rocky Attends Preliminary Hearing
The assault charges stem from an alleged altercation between Rocky and ASAP Relli back in November 2021. He stands accused of allegedly firing shots at his former friend. Rocky's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told reporters outside of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, last week, that he's confident Rocky will beat the case. He labeled the prosecution's arguments "fundamentally weak" and said the witnesses were "not credible."
ASAP Rocky Arrives At The Courthouse In L.A.
It doesn't appear that Rocky's partner, Rihanna, was with him on Tuesday. Check out a clip of ASAP Rocky arriving at the courthouse tomorrow.
[Via]
