LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge said he expects a jury will be chosen at the trial of A$AP Rocky on Thursday, while lawyers for the hip-hop star are protesting the dearth of Black candidates for the panel.
Nearly one hundred potential jurors will pack into the Los Angeles courtroom for a third long day of questioning at the trial, where Rocky is accused of two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm for allegedly firing on a former friend in Hollywood in 2021.
Opening statements will begin once 12 of them, and four alternates, are seated.
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to have a jury tomorrow,” Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold said at the end of court Wednesday, thanking the panelists for their patience. “This is not going to go on forever.”
Other than dismissals for cause, each side can have 10 jurors dismissed without giving a reason. The defense has used four of its challenges. Prosecutors used just one. They said they are happy with the jury as currently composed. But that may change.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Rocky said they planned to appeal a judge's rejection of their request for a hearing on why less than 5% of the jury pool is Black, while the area they are drawn from is 9% African American. It's possible that none of the 16 jurors selected will be Black.
“We’re troubled by that to say the least,” defense lawyer Joe Tacopina said. “We’re in downtown Los Angeles, not a small town in Montana.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton said on the social platform X that he has been following the proceedings and was critical of the racial makeup of the juror pool.
“It is absolutely ridiculous that the jury will be not fair and representative, so as to deprive A$AP Rocky of a fair trial,” the post said. “I am monitoring this trial and challenging the Los Angeles District Attorney to ensure that fair and representative justice is afforded to A$AP Rocky.”
The judge declined to pause the trial for the appeal.
Prosecutors questioned potential jurors Wednesday about their attitudes toward police and celebrity.
Deputy District Attorney John Lewin asked how many of the 12 people in the jury box during the first round of questioning consider themselves fans of Rihanna, who is Rocky's longtime life partner and the mother of his two toddler sons. Four said they were.
He asked them whether they'll worry about the effect that convicting Rocky — on two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, which could lead to many years in prison — could have on Rihanna.
“You put it in my head, and now I'm like, ‘Oh, it would affect her,’” one woman in the jury box responded.
Rocky, who is free on bail and has pleaded not guilty, sat at the defense table, watching the questioning.
Rihanna was not in court with him, but Rocky's mother and sister sat in his section of the gallery.
When told who they were, Arnold marveled at the youthful appearance of his mother, Renee Black.
“What were you, 7 when you had him?” the judge asked. She said she was 26.
“You are very beautiful,” the judge told her. “That's on the record.”
Jury selection began Tuesday after the 36-year-old Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Athelaston Mayers, turned down a deal offering 180 days in jail, a seven-year suspended sentence and three years’ probation if he would plead guilty to one of the two counts.
Rocky is set to headline the Rolling Loud California music festival in March, he has been named one of the celebrity chairs of the Met Gala in May, and he has a major role in a Spike Lee-directed film with Denzel Washington to be released soon after.
But his life could be upended if he's convicted of firing a gun at Terell Ephron, a childhood friend who testified that their relationship had soured and a feud came to a head on the night of Nov. 6, 2021. Ephron testified that bullets grazed his knuckles.
Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press
