Rapper A$AP Rocky ordered to face trial in Los Angeles on assault prices

Rapper A$AP Rocky was ordered on Monday to face trial in Los Angeles on two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic weapon.

Rocky, 35, whose given identify is Rakim Mayers, is accused of pointing a handgun at one other hip-hop artist and former pal, Terell Ephron, throughout a heated argument, then firing twice in Ephron’s route throughout a second confrontation. Both encounters occurred on November 6, 2021.

Prosecutors alleged that Ephron suffered a minor damage within the taking pictures.

Rocky was arrested in reference to the altercation 5 months later, in April 2022, as he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on a flight from Barbados. He was charged in August of that yr.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar dominated on Monday that prosecutors had ample proof to proceed to trial on each counts of assault, together with allegations that Rocky had personally used a firearm throughout the incidents in query, in response to a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office.

The Harlem-born musician, who stays free on bond, has pleaded not responsible within the case.

His lawyer, Joe Tacopina, argued in court docket that prosecutors did not current ample proof {that a} taking pictures had even occurred, counting on numerous surveillance movies and testimony that the defence stated have been inconclusive, the Los Angeles City News Service (CNS) reported in its account of the proceedings.

The defence additionally questioned the veracity of Ephron’s testimony that he believed his left hand had been grazed within the gunfire, CNS reported.

Ephron, who has carried out underneath the stage identify as A$AP Relli as a part of a hip-hop collective that when included each males, has additionally filed a civil lawsuit towards Rocky, in response to CNS.

Since Rocky’s arrest in April of 2022, he has two sons with popstar Rihanna.

His first and second studio albums, Long. Live. A$AP, and At.Long.Last.A$AP, each debuted at No. 1 within the Billboard 200 pop charts in 2013 and 2015, respectively. His third album, Testing, launched in 2018, peaked within the prime 5.