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WorldJanuary 28, 2025

ANDREW DALTON, Associated Press
Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, and his attorney Joe Tacopina listen to opening remarks by the prosecuting attorney in Mayers' trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, and his attorney Joe Tacopina listen to opening remarks by the prosecuting attorney in Mayers' trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Grammy-nominated rapper A$AP Rocky, center, facing two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm after allegedly shooting at a former friend in 2021, arrives at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Grammy-nominated rapper A$AP Rocky, center, facing two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm after allegedly shooting at a former friend in 2021, arrives at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, lower right, frowns while listening to opening remarks from the prosecuting attorney during his trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, lower right, frowns while listening to opening remarks from the prosecuting attorney during his trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, and his attorney Joe Tacopina listen to opening remarks by the prosecuting attorney in Mayers' trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, and his attorney Joe Tacopina listen to opening remarks by the prosecuting attorney in Mayers' trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Judge Mark S. Arnold speaks to attorneys before opening remarks in the trial of Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Judge Mark S. Arnold speaks to attorneys before opening remarks in the trial of Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, listens to opening remarks by the prosecuting attorney in his trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, listens to opening remarks by the prosecuting attorney in his trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec makes his opening remarks as defense attorney Joe Tacopina, center, and his client, Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, right, listen in Mayers' trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec makes his opening remarks as defense attorney Joe Tacopina, center, and his client, Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, right, listen in Mayers' trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Defense attorney Joe Tacopina listens to opening remarks from the prosecuting attorney during the trial of his client, Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
Defense attorney Joe Tacopina listens to opening remarks from the prosecuting attorney during the trial of his client, Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)ASSOCIATED PRESS

A$AP Rocky 's accuser, former friend and the key witness at his trial took the stand Tuesday afternoon.

Rocky, the rapper and partner of Rihanna, has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm for allegedly firing at the friend who goes by A$AP Relli.

Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, met Relli, born Terell Ephron, in high school in New York when both were part of a crew of creators who called themselves A$AP — which stands for Always Strive and Prosper.

They remained close for years, as Rocky’s star rose. But their relationship soured, coming to a head on Nov. 6, 2021, when the two aired their grievances in a confrontation on the streets of Hollywood. Prosecutors say Rocky pulled out a handgun and fired two shots at Relli, who says bullets grazed his knuckles.

The defense argues Relli was the aggressor, and Rocky fired a starter pistol to break up a fight between him and another member of their crew. They said Rocky carried the pistol, which only shoots blanks, for security.

Before the jury was brought in, the defense revealed that they do not have the pistol.

“Does the prop gun exist?” Judge Matthew Arnold asked.

“The prop gun did exist,” Rocky's lawyer Joe Tacopina said. “It does not now. We don’t have it.”

Rocky's lawyers said Relli, who has also filed a civil lawsuit, is driven by “ jealousy, lies and greed " and fabricated large parts of the story to get money.

Earlier Tuesday, the defense cross-examined a police officer who responded to reports of a shooting about the absence of evidence at the scene.

“There was no sign of a shooting?" Tacopina asked.

“No,” said Sgt. Thomas Zizzo.

“No blood?”

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“No.”

“No bullet holes?”

“No.”

No shell casings?

“No.”

“No physical evidence that a shooting happened at all?”

“No.”

Two days after the shooting, Relli himself brought two shell casings to police that he said he had found at the scene after the police had searched.

Video from Zizzo's body camera played in court, showing seven officers who searched the scene and found nothing.

In earlier testimony Friday, Zizzo said that while police searched thoroughly, “we may have missed something.”

The officer, who served in the Hollywood area, is the son of Erika Jayne, former star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" and ex-wife of Tom Girardi, a disgraced and disbarred star lawyer who is awaiting sentencing at his own downtown LA trial.

Rocky sat in the courtroom next to his lawyers and watched stoically, wearing a tan sport coat with black slacks. His mother and sister sat in his section, as they have throughout the trial.

Rihanna, his longtime partner and the mother of their two toddler sons, was not in court. Rocky's lawyers said an appearance is unlikely but possible.

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