A$AP Rocky Assault Trial Set to Begin as Jury is Selected and Opening Statements Approach

LOS ANGELES—On Thursday, a jury comprising five men and seven women was selected for the trial of rapper A$AP Rocky, who faces charges related to the shooting of a former friend in 2021.

The Los Angeles trial for the 36-year-old hip-hop icon and fashion influencer will commence with opening statements on Friday, following the swearing-in of the 12 jurors and four alternates.

Rocky declined a plea offer from the prosecution that included a 180-day jail sentence, choosing instead to face the risk of potentially years in prison if found guilty of two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. He maintains his innocence and his attorney asserts that he has committed no crime.

Rather than accepting the plea deal, he is opting to contest two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, which, if convicted, could result in a sentence of up to 24 years in prison.

It took approximately 2 1/2 days for both sides to select the jurors from a group of over a hundred candidates gathered in a downtown LA courtroom. The selected jury includes a woman who is both a podcast editor and actor, alongside a man who has over 20 years of experience working at Trader Joe’s. The final alternate selected is a retired judge.

Many potential jurors were dismissed for cause, while others were let go by either side. Each side had the option to excuse 10 jurors without providing a reason; the defense exercised seven challenges, in contrast to the prosecution’s two.

One juror selected on Thursday serves as a civilian employee with the Los Angeles Police Department and has notable connections to law enforcement, including a cousin listed as a potential witness for the case, although he is not expected to testify.

After the judge refused to dismiss him for cause, Rocky’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, chose to excuse him from jury duty.

“Here’s a shocker, we’re going to thank and excuse juror number 27,” Tacopina announced.

During jury selection, attitudes toward law enforcement emerged as a frequent point of discussion. In several intense exchanges, Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold, a former sheriff’s deputy, challenged those expressing distrust in police, engaging in almost debate-like conversations with some jurors.

He questioned one woman, a speech pathologist, by asking if he should hold all speech pathologists to the same standard because of his own negative experience with one.

When another juror raised the issue of police corruption, Arnold insisted she “tell me about the documented corruption at LAPD that you must’ve either read or heard about.”

In response to her mention of the Rodney King case, he questioned, “Are you going to judge current officers based on events that occurred before they were born?”

A significant number of inquiries revolved around the fame of both Rocky and particularly Rihanna, his long-term partner and mother of his two young children. Rihanna did not attend court on Thursday, and it remains uncertain if she will be present during the trial.

“If Rihanna is here in court, would it be challenging for you to look over there and see the defendant’s family and render a guilty verdict?” Deputy District Attorney John Lewin asked one juror.

After a considerable pause, she responded with a simple “yes.”

Rocky is accused of firing three to four shots at Terell Ephron, a former friend from his youth, in the Hollywood area back in 2021. Ephron has stated that the shots grazed his knuckles. Rocky has denied the allegations, with his defense arguing that he was holding a starter pistol used as a prop rather than a real firearm.

By Andrew Dalton