A$AP Rocky expressed gratitude to members of the jury after being found not guilty on all counts in his felony shooting trial.
The rapper, 38, told the jurors ‘thank y’all for saving my life’ as they exited the courtroom.
The hip hop star — who faced up to 24 years in prison if convicted — also thanked Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold, stating, ‘Thank you, your honor.’
Rihanna, 36, the mother of his two children, wept as the verdict was read, and he ran over to embrace her. The Los Angeles courtroom exploded into screaming glee as Rocky and his superstar girlfriend embraced and sobbed.
Later, outside the courtroom, Rocky thanked God and the jury. Meanwhile his attorney said that Rocky wanted to ‘shield’ Rihanna from the trial, but ‘wild horses couldn’t keep her away.’
Afterwards, Rihanna took to her Instagram Stories, writing, ‘The glory belongs to God and God alone! Thankful, humbled by his mercy!’
A$AP Rocky, 38, expressed gratitude to members of the jury after being found not guilty on all counts in his felony shooting trial
The rapper told the jurors ‘thank y’all for saving my life’ as they exited the courtroom
Rihanna, 36, the mother of his two children, wept as the verdict was read, and he ran over to embrace her
The three-time Grammy nominee was charged with a pair of felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm in the shooting.
The jury reached a unanimous decision after deliberating for about three hours following the conclusion of closing arguments in the case last week.
Rocky – whose legal name is Rakim Mayers – risked more than 24 years in prison if he had been convicted.
On the eve of trial, he turned down a prosecution offer of just six months in jail, along with probation and other conditions, if he would plead guilty to one count.
Insisting on his innocence, and with two young toddler sons at home along with his longtime partner Rihanna, Rocky decided to gamble that a jury would feel the same. It paid off. The jurors felt at least that there was reasonable doubt of his guilt.
Rihanna attended the trial sporadically and brought the couple’s two sons – 2-year-old RZA Athelston Mayers and 1-year-old Riot Rose Mayers – for some of the closing arguments.
The verdict came at the height of Rocky’s fame, if not the pinnacle of his music career.
The three-time Grammy nominee has a banner year in the works, and can now look to it without the threat of prison hanging over him.
He is scheduled to headline the Rolling Loud music festival in March; he is one of the celebrity co-chairs of fashion´s biggest night, the Met Gala, in May; and he stars with Denzel Washington in director Spike Lee´s film ‘Highest 2 Lowest,’ set for release in early summer.
The hip hop star — who faced up to 24 years in prison if convicted — also thanked Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold
‘Thank you, your honor,’ the musician told the judge (pictured)
The Los Angeles courtroom, full of fans of the hip-hop performer and his singing superstar partner, exploded into screaming glee as Rocky and Rihanna embraced and sobbed
Rocky dove into Rihanna’s arms
Rocky seen hugging attorney Joe Tacopina after he was found not guilty
The three-time Grammy nominee was charged with a pair of felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm in the shooting
Prosecutors and their witnesses said that he was beefing with a former friend, A$AP Relli, with whom he had been in a crew who called themselves the A$AP Mob since high school. They said the two men met up in Hollywood on Nov. 6, 2021, and after a scuffle Rocky pulled the gun and fired twice at Relli, who said one of the shots grazed his knuckle but was not seriously hurt.
Rocky´s lawyer Joe Tacopina said in his closing argument that Relli is ‘an angry pathological liar’ who ‘committed perjury again and again and again and again.’
Rocky´s lawyers and witnesses they called said Rocky had shot a prop gun that only fires blanks, which he had been carrying for security since taking it from a music video set months earlier. They said he fired it as a warning because Relli was attacking another member of their crew.
The jurors were told that despite three years passing since the incident, no one mentioned the phony gun to authorities until the day jury selection began at the trial.
They were also instructed that if they found that Rocky reasonably believed that he or one of the two friends with him that night were in imminent danger of injury, and that he used reasonable force, they could find the defendant not guilty.
It wasn´t immediately clear whether they reached the verdict because they believed he was in fact carrying a prop gun or that he acted in self-defense. They did not have to agree on their reasoning, or explain it outside of the jury room. They just had to reach the same conclusion.
Rocky opted not to testify in his own defense.
The happy couple were seen exiting the court
After the verdict, Tacopina said outside the courthouse that ‘Rocky did not want her here, I will tell you that’
He said Rocky ‘wanted to shield her from this. Wild horses couldn’t keep her away’
Afterwards, Rihanna took to her Instagram Stories, writing, ‘The glory belongs to God and God alone! Thankful, humbled by his mercy!’
In his closing argument, Deputy District Attorney John Lewin urged the jurors not to be influenced by the celebrity or family aspects of the case, and suggested Rihanna bringing the kids to closing arguments was an attempt to manipulate the jury.
‘You are not allowed to consider how this might affect Rihanna and his kids,’ the prosecutor said. ‘We are all responsible for our own actions in the world.’
After the verdict, Tacopina said outside the courthouse that ‘Rocky did not want her here, I will tell you that.’
He said Rocky ‘wanted to shield her from this. Wild horses couldn’t keep her away.’
‘I cant imagine this has been anything but a life-altering experience for them,’ he said.
