Jury finds A$AP Rocky not guilty in felony assault trial
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A verdict has been reached in the felony assault trial of rapper A$AP Rocky: NOT GUILTY.

Jurors announced they’d made a decision just hours after the deliberations began Tuesday morning in Los Angeles.

A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was accused of firing two shots at his former childhood friend Terell Ephron, also known as A$AP Relli, on a Hollywood street corner in 2021.

Prosecutors called this a clear case of assault, and Ephron said his knuckles were grazed by one of the shots but he wasn’t seriously hurt. He also presented two shell casings as evidence.

However, the defense said this was nothing more than a warning shot with a fake gun that Rocky picked up for security on a music video shoot.

Rocky’s attorneys said the prop was a starter pistol that never held real ammunition.

However, no gun was recovered for evidence, and the footage provided was too grainy to accurately show what happened, so jurors were left to weigh conflicting testimonies.

A$AP Rocky arrives at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Judge Mark Arnold asked the jury to avoid any personal feelings about the rapper and his partner and mother of his children, Rihanna.

According to the Associated Press, the jurors were also instructed that they could find Rocky not guilty if they deemed he was acting in self-defense.

The Grammy-nominated rapper is facing two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. He has pleaded not guilty, and the three-week-long trial ended with closing arguments on Friday.

If convicted, he could have faced up to 24 years in prison. He initially turned down a pre-trial plea deal that could have ended up with 180 days in jail.

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