CA v. Rakim Mayers: The Trial of A$AP Rocky

Posted at 8:55 PM, February 6, 2025

LOS ANGELES (AP/Court TV) — A$AP Rocky is facing trial on charges that he fired a gun at a former friend and collaborator on the streets near a Hollywood hotel in 2021.

A$AP Rocky

A$AP Rocky appears in court as attorney Joe Tacopina delivers the defense’s opening statement. (Court TV)

Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, is charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Prosecutors have said he could get up to 24 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

Rocky was arrested in April 2022, and pleaded not guilty to the charges later that year. As jury selection began, he turned down a plea agreement that would have meant 180 days in jail.

Terell Ephron testified that he and Rocky, members of A$AP, a crew of creators at a New York high school, had been close but their relationship eroded after fame came for Rocky.

He said their relationship had been strained for years and was getting worse in the days leading up to the incident, but he was still “furious” when Rocky pulled a gun on him after a scuffle that began the moment the two met up near the W Hotel on Nov. 6, 2021. He dared him to use it.

He had been shouting angrily at Rocky, who was walking away after an initial confrontation and scuffle, when Rocky pulled a gun from his waistband and held it in the air, Relli testified.

“He turned around and then it was like BOOM!” he told the jury. “The whole thing was like a movie, he kind of like pointed down and he shot the first shot.”

He said “I felt my hand hot” and later added, “I was hit. Or I was grazed. I didn’t have a hole or nothing.”

Rocky’s lawyer says the shots he fired were not even from a real gun — they were blanks from a starter pistol that he carried as a prop. The lawyer said Relli knew this, and that was why he was so fearless walking after him.

Two days after the shooting, Relli himself brought two shell casings to police that he said he had found at the scene after seven police officers searched the scene and found nothing.

During the testimony of Sgt. Thomas Zizzo, the jury saw body camera footage of officers searching the area with flashlights and remarking on the lack of evidence at the scene.

 

DAILY TRIAL UPDATES

DAY 8 – 2/6/25

  • The lead detective testified that he believes the gun fired at Terell Ephron was a real gun, not a prop gun as the defense claims.
  • A forensic scientist with the Los Angeles Police Department testified to different guns and casings.
  • The prosecution rested its case-in-chief.

DAY 7 – 2/4/25

DAY 6 – 2/3/25

DAY 5 – 1/31/25

DAY 4 – 1/30/25

  • The morning session was chaotic due to a heated, unwieldy cross that was interrupted by:
    • Frequent sidebars.
    • Frequent scoldings by the judge to the attorneys to stop sniping at each other.
    • 20-minute court-imposed break so the witness — Rocky’s accuser, Terell “Relli” Ephron – could confer with his attorneys (Johnny Depp’s attorneys Ben Chew and Camille Vazquez) about how to respond to questions.
    • The break came as Ephron grew increasingly frustrated with defense lawyer Joe Tacopina’s questions about Ephron’s alleged efforts before the shooting to present a “lavish lifestyle” although his bank records suggested Ephron had less than $1,000 at one point.
    • Ephron kept asking Tacopina what he was “getting at” and refused to answer “yes” or “no” and kept trying to elaborate on his answers, prompting the judge to caution him several times.
    • Ephron returned from the break somewhat more restrained, firing off “I don’t recall” with growing frequency.
  • Judge told lawyers to stop saying the n-word when reading texts and instead “use the n-word.”
    • Ephron agreed with defense that before giving his phone to police, he deleted seemingly antagonizing texts he sent to Rocky the morning of the shooting in which he appears to try to goad him into a fight with taunts like “beat me up… I wish you would… give me a reason… u been pussy.”
    • At first, Ephron said they were “fake.” Then he said he didn’t remember why he deleted them.
    • Defense lawyer Tacopina tried to chip away at Ephron’s credibility with numerous seemingly small examples of inconsistencies and contradictions between his testimony and other prior statements in texts, a preliminary hearing and interviews with police and the DA’s office such as:
      • Ephron testified that Rocky pointed a gun at him — but the police interview said Rocky pressed the barrel against his chest.
      • Ephron testified that Rocky said “I’ll kill you” versus his interview with prosecutors in which he said he couldn’t remember what Rocky said.

DAY 3 – 1/29/25

  • Ephron returned to the witness stand for his second day of testimony and described the alleged shooting, his collection of bullet casings that police couldn’t find, and the career-ending consequences of reporting the incident.
  • The prosecutor walked Ephron through texts he sent to Rocky after the incident, which included pictures of the casings and security cameras in the area. Ephron told Rocky, “I loved your dumb ass,” to which Rocky responded, “I know you hate me. I hate you too. Stop making shit up… call police if I ‘shot’ @ u u weirdo.”
  • Prosecutor Paul Przelomiec asked several questions in attempts to head off the defense narrative that Ephron grabbed Rocky first during their initial clash outside a parking, then followed Rocky and their two friends around the block as they tried to flee, and then instigated the shooting by attacking one of the other men, Illijah Ulanger, or “Illz,” knowing full well that Rocky was carrying a prop gun that didn’t fire bullets.
  • The prosecutor also tried to head off some of Ephron’s inconsistent statements, such as his report to police that 3 to 4 shots were fired when surveillance video suggests only two shots went off.
    Ephron failed to identify himself on security camera footage that prosecutors say shows him collecting casings from the shooting scene.
  • When asked why he followed Rocky and the two men — yelling taunts and insults — after Rocky had threatened him with a gun, Ephron said he “wasn’t thinking straight” but wanted to say his piece since he knew their friendship was over. He never imagined Rocky would shoot him, he said.
  • In describing the first gunshot, Ephron said he felt his hand turn “hot” and grabbed Ulanger/Illz and as a shield. He said he did not remember the second gunshot because he was grappling with Ulanger/Illz while trying to seek cover.
  • Ephron denied physically assaulting Ulanger/Illz or injuring his face, saying Ulanger/Illz already had a broken jaw because of a prior altercation with Rocky’s cousin.
  • Did you believe as the defendant was shooting at you that it was a fake or real gun? Oh, it was a real gun. Why did you believe that? Stares for a second… I was hit… someone’s shooting at you… I don’t know how to answer that.

DAY 2 – 1/28/25

  • Defense lawyer Joe Tacopina accused DDA Lewin of “inappropriate” conduct in talking to Rocky’s mother last week (in front of the media) about the plea deal.
  • When asked by the judge if the defense had any witnesses other than the two listed, lawyer Joe Tacopina said the “only other possibility is to my right,” patting Rocky on the shoulder.
  • Judge Arnold ordered both sides to not speak to the press — or to each other outside of the courtroom — after the State complained about the defense’s comments to the media concerning the jury, setting off a terse back-and-forth of name-calling mixed with discovery violation accusations between DDA John Lewin and Tacopina.
  • Judge Arnold asked the defense if the prop gun exists: “It existed… I don’t know if exists now,” Tacopina said.
  • LAPD Sgt. Thomas Zizzo finished his testimony about the fruitless search for evidence of a shooting – no casings, no blood, no property damage.
  • During Zizzo’s testimony, jury saw more body camera footage of officers searching the area with flashlights and remarking on the lack of evidence at the scene. One of the officers even said the sounds of gunshots may have been “warning shots,” echoing the defense’s position on why Rocky allegedly fired his weapon to scare Relli off from attacking A$AP Illz.
  • A woman who called 911 described what she saw from her seventh-floor apartment of the initial physical altercation and the alleged shooting.
  • Alleged victim Terell Ephron took the stand to try to convince the jury that Rocky instigated the fight, saying he would never try to bring a fight to Rocky because it would end his career.
  • Ephron recounted a phone call he overheard in Jabari Shelton’s (A$AP Bari) car the day before the incident (11-5-21) between Shelton and Rocky in which Rocky said he doesn’t fuck with Ephron because he gets emotional.
  • “It’s hard to have a relationship with Rocky,” Ephron said when asked about mounting tension in their friendship, describing Rocky as “fake” and accusing him of never returning Ephron’s calls or texts.
  • Ephron said he called Rocky the “sixth month man” because he only heard from him every six months.
  • When Ephron suddenly got a flurry of calls and texts from Rocky asking to meet up the night of November 6, Ephron thought they might fight, “talk shit out,” and find “common ground” based on what he’d heard in the phone call between and Bari. Ephron felt “confident” that Rocky would see him for who he was, an artist who was forging his own career as a manager and not some “bum” riding Rocky’s coattails.
  • Ephron said he did not want to bring a fight to Rocky because his career “would be over.” Ephron struggled to paint a cohesive picture of the confrontation outside the parking lot or recall exactly what Rocky said. He said Rocky grabbed him by the collar, pulled a gun from his waistband and said something like, “I’ll kill you right now, p—y,” before Illz intervened.
  • The introduction of the gun “was the breaking point for me,” Ephron said. “I said if you brought a gun, use it then” – not because Ephron knew it was a prop gun, as the defense contends, but because he was so furious, he testified. “If I was gonna die for my respect at this point, I don’t care. If this is what you’re gonna do, I still have my dignity at least.”
  • Ephron did not know Rocky to carry a firearm and did not know he carried a prop gun – contrary to what lawyer Joe Tacopina said in the defense opening.
  • 911 caller Leah Elizabeth Martin-Brown described what she saw from her seventh-floor apartment of the initial physical altercation and the alleged shooting.
  • MORE: A$AP Rocky’s accuser set to testify about alleged shooting

DAY 1 – 1/24/25

  • The jury heard competing accounts about who instigated and escalated the confrontation: Mayers or Ephron.
  • Deputy District Attorney Przelomiec said Ephron agreed to meet Mayers and three other A$AP members outside a parking lot thinking they would reconcile a longstanding beef and was shocked when Mayers allegedly pulled a firearm on him and threatened to kill him. Ephron followed the men around the corner where the Mayers allegedly drew his weapon unprovoked and opened fire on Ephron, Przelomiec said.
  • Lawyer Joe Tacopina said in the defense opening that Ephron fabricated the account – including his injuries — and planted evidence out of greed, jealousy and resentment toward Mayers.
    • WATCH: The Trial of A$AP Rocky: Defense Opening Statement
    • Tacopina used different clips of the surveillance footage to suggest Ephron pushed Mayers first, then pursued the men as they tried to leave the scene and physically attacked one of the other A$Aps, prompting Mayers to fire his prop gun to scare off Ephron.
  • Sgt. Thomas Zizzo testified that he and at least 2-3 other officers responded to calls of a possible shooting in the heart of Hollywood on November 6, 2021, and found no evidence of a shooting – including shell casings. Zizzo testified it’s possible he simply missed them despite efforts to search the area for casings or property damage.
    • The jury saw Zizzo’s body camera showing his failed attempts to extract information from people on the scene. The 911 callers refused to meet with or speak to him.
  • The day started with an angry exchange outside the jury’s presence between the attorneys over the State’s last-minute disclosure of a ballistics report suggesting bullet casings the alleged victim gave police could have been fired from a 9 mm handgun – an assertion that may not mean much unless the jury rejects Mayers’ claim that he fired a prop gun, but nonetheless it could help the State as it fight to prove that Mayers opened fire on Ephron with a real 9 mm handgun.
  • Judge Arnold said the evidence could come in but said the Court would pay for a defense expert for its own ballistics  investigation and analysis.
  • Lots of tense moments and loud scolding between the judge and the attorneys — in front of and outside the jury’s presence – over the State’s repeated objections during the defense opening.