ASAP Rocky has a lot at stake in his assault case for allegedly shooting at A$AP Relli back in 2021. Today (Friday, January 24), the trial officially kicked off with its opening statements following jury selection, which were preceded by a courtroom discussion (before jurors entered) about a new but late ballistics report that prosecutors want to present as evidence. Los Angels County Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec opened the session, whereas the Harlem rapper’s lawyer Joe Tacopina followed. Both sides presented the evidence to their arguments that they will present throughout the trial, which is why both sides found it relevant to discuss that ballistics report before the jurors entered the courtroom.
Speaking of the jury, that process became quite controversial due to criticisms that A$AP Rocky’s assault trial did not have any Black jurors. Even Al Sharpton criticized this move on social media, and it already tainted many’s views of the judicial process before the actual evidence emerged. Still, this doesn’t mean that this immediately hurts or helps either side in this case, so we will have to see how the actual proceedings play out.
ASAP Rocky Trial’s Opening Statements
However, another point of controversy for A$AP Rocky is how he rejected a plea deal that would land him in prison for six months along with other conditions. According to an alleged direct source who reportedly spoke to TMZ, this is because Rocky’s confident in his innocence and because the plea deal would destroy his livelihood. “This would effectively end his career because he would lose all of his endorsement contracts, including Gucci, Puma, the Met Gala and, most important, he would not be able to tour and his career would be over,” the alleged source supposedly remarked. “They would have him under their thumb for over 8 years.”
With all this in mind, A$AP Rocky’s assault case seems like a complex and unclear situation, as prosecutors and the defense already previewed much of their evidence even before these opening statements. As you might expect, they conflict each other, so witnesses and more scrutiny with each piece of supposed evidence will be crucial to the trial’s outcome.
