ASAP Rocky may have just finally announced the August 30 release date of his highly anticipated new album Don’t Be Dumb, but it looks like his calendar has another big life update looming over it now. Moreover, the court gave him an October 21 start date for his jury trial on Thursday (June 20), centered around accusations that he shot colleague A$AP Relli. For those unaware, the Harlem rapper stands accused of firing at Relli at a Los Angeles street corner over two years ago. He denied any and all wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to two assault charges with a semiautomatic gun.
Furthermore, the judge gave a specific order A$AP Rocky and his team assisted by defense lawyer Sara Caplan, who was at the morning hearing where the court issued their start date for the trial. Specifically, the judge asked the defense to submit their planned motion to dismiss the case by July 19. Caplan relayed that the team still waits for medical records from A$AP Relli’s alleged hospital visit. According to a Los Angeles Police Department detective who testified last November, no footage from the supposed incident proves that the alleged shooting happened, and law enforcement authorities were not able to recover weapons in this case.
ASAP Rocky At His AWGE Spring/Summer 2025 Show
US rapper and designer ASAP Rocky aknowledges the audience at the end of the American Sabotage AWGE Spring/Summer 2025 menswear ready to wear collection show as part of Paris Fashion Week in Paris, on June 21, 2024. (Photo by Geoffroy VAN DER HASSELT / AFP) (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty Images)
“The court agrees with the defense that you don’t see an actual shooting on the video,” Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar said last November concerning A$AP Rocky’s case. “Later, in another section of video, you do hear two shots. […] Tempers heightened on both sides. […] In any event, Mr. Ephron does what appears to be a dance around the other individuals to avoid [a] shot. His testimony is that he was shot.”
“He swore under oath (that) no, he did not [ask for millions of dollars to make the case disappear],” ASAP Rocky’s lawyer Joe Tacopina said of his client’s alleged victim. “That’s not going to bode well for him at trial. Common sense is going to prevail and we’re going to get [Rocky, who might testify in his own defense] through this, and he’s going to be vindicated. The evidence we have that they don’t know about is going to be devastating… devastating.”
About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a music and pop culture news writer for HotNewHipHop. He started in 2022 as a weekend writer and, since joining the team full-time, has developed a strong knowledge in hip-hop news and releases. Whether it’s regular coverage or occasional interviews and album reviews, he continues to search for the most relevant news for his audience and find the best new releases in the genre. What excites him the most is finding pop culture stories of interest, as well as a deeper passion for the art form of hip-hop and its contemporary output.
Specifically, Gabriel enjoys the fringes of rap music: the experimental, boundary-pushing, and raw alternatives to the mainstream sound. As a proud native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, he also stays up-to-date with the archipelago’s local scene and its biggest musical exponents in reggaetón, salsa, indie, and beyond.
Before working at HotNewHipHop, Gabriel produced multiple short documentaries, artist interviews, venue spotlights, and audio podcasts on a variety of genres and musical figures. Hardcore punk and Go-go music defined much of his coverage during his time at the George Washington University in D.C.
His favorite hip-hop artists working today are Tyler, The Creator, Boldy James, JPEGMAFIA, and Earl Sweatshirt.
