Potential jury members in the shooting case against A $ AP Rocky are reportedly asked questions about their knowledge and interest in the old partner of the rapper, Rihanna.
TMZ reports that possible jury members have been questioned about Rihanna, 36, and A $ AP, 36.
Rocky is rightly accusing that in 2021 he fired a gun on Terell Ephron, a former friend and employee, outside a hotel in Hollywood. He has not guilty of two crimes of abuse with a semi -automatic firearm.
Lawyers reportedly asked those who had been called before jury service if they had ever bought products sold by Rihanna.
RIHANNA- who has had a relationship with A $ AP, 36, and sons RZA, two, and Riot, one, one, with him shares- sells a clothing and lingerie line called Savage x Fenty, as well as the cosmetics range Fenty Beauty.
Possible jury members were reportedly asked if they had ever bought Rihanna's products and whether they could come to an honest and impartial judgment if the singer was present in the courtroom.
Potential jury members in the arms shop against A $ AP Rocky are reportedly asked about the old partner of the rapper, Rihanna; shown December 2024
TMZ reports that the possible jury pool was also asked whether members of A $ AP or the Diamonds singer had heard, listened to their songs or downloaded their music.
Later on Thursday the trial took a step forward when a final jury took place.
Rocky will be judged in particular by a jury member in which there are no black people – who make up almost nine percent of the population of Los Angeles County – according to TMZ.
The twelve jury members consist of seven women and five men and are reportedly white, Asian and Spanish.
Four deputy jury members were also selected, all women, in case one of the regular jury members would be removed or should resign, but none of them was black either.
The trial is under the supervision of Judge Mark Arnold, who is white.
That may not be good news for Rocky – Real name: Rakim Athelaston Mayers – since a 2012 study at Duke University showed that a jury with at least one black member tended to condemn black suspects to the same extent as white suspects , while black suspects did. More chance of being convicted than white suspects if there were no black jury members.
However, that research was only carried out under white or black jury members, so the multiracial composition of Rocky's jury may not be that influential.
Rihanna sells a clothing line called Savage X Fenty, as well as cosmetics under Fenty Beauty, and both were reportedly discussed during the jury selection.
The Love on the Brain singer also has Fenty Beauty, her range of cosmetics; Shown 2017
Both the prosecutor and the suspect's lawyer had the opportunity to throw out potential jury members. In addition to dismissal for urgent reasons, each party can have ten jury members dismissed without giving a reason. The defense has used four of its challenges. Prosecutors have only used one. They said they were happy with the jury as it is currently compiled.
Rocky's lawyers said they were planning to appeal against the rejection by the judge of their request for a hearing about why less than five percent of the jury members are black, while the area they come from Almost nine percent is African-American, which may have played a role. A role in the final jury have no black members.
“We suffer from that to say the least,” Tacopina said. “We are in the center of Los Angeles, not in a small town in Montana.”
Reveren already Sharpton said on the social platform X that he followed the procedure and was critical of the racial composition of the jury members.
“It is absolutely ridiculous that the jury will not be fair and representative, so that A $ AP Rocky is deprived of a fair trial,” the post said. “I follow this process and challenge the Los Angeles public prosecutor to ensure that honest and representative justice are offered to A $ AP Rocky.”
The judge refused to interrupt the court case due to the appeal.
Rocky has argued innocently for two crimes for abuse with a semi -automatic firearm and he risks a prison sentence of a maximum of 24 years if he is convicted for both.
The indictment stems from a confrontation in Hollywood in November 2021 between Rocky and fellow rapper Terell Ephron, whose artist name A $ AP Relli is. Together with Rocky, he was a member of the Rapgroep ASAP Mob who started in Harlem in 2006.
Possible jury members were reportedly asked if they believed that they could come to an honest and impartial judgment in the case against A $ AP if Rihanna was present in court; shown October 2024
Rihanna promotes her Savage X Fenty line in an Instagram post of Augustus
Rocky was arrested at Lax airport in April 2022 when he left Barbados from a private plane, where he had been on vacation with Rihanna.
Since his arrest, he has been free against a donor of $ 550,000.
During a provisional hearing, the prosecutors presented security cameras and testimonies from Ephron and the police to support their claim that Rocky pointed a gun to Ephron during the fight and then fired it twice, injuring his hand.
Ephron himself testified that Rocky held the gun against his belly and said, “I kill you now,” before he fired the bullets.
Rocky's lawyer Joe Tacopina has challenged the prosecutor's case and said that there was not enough evidence that even a shooting had taken place. He called the surveillance videos and witness statements 'not decisive'.
Ephron has brought a separate civil attack and battery right against Rocky, which has been suspended pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.
Earlier Tuesday, Rocky and his legal team had the opportunity to accept a pleid agreement in which he would be guilty of one of the charges for mistreatment in exchange for a conditional sentence of seven years, 180 days in prison and a probationary period of three years.
The second indictment for crime would also have been rejected.
She has a relationship with A $ AP since 2020 and they share sons RZA, two, and Riot, one; shown 2023
But Tacopina declined the offer and told Judge Mark Arnold of the La Supreme Court that the gun with which Rocky Ephron shot actually was a 'plug gun' – a fake firearm used in films.
It was the second time that Rocky's lawyers have rejected a pleid agreement for the prosecution.
After the first deal was presented last Wednesday, Tacopina told Dailymail.com: “He did not commit any crime,” and called the La District Attorney case against Rocky “fundamentally weak.”
The judge said earlier that he expected a jury to be chosen on Thursday during the trial against A $ AP Rocky, while the hip -hop star lawyers are protesting against the lack of black candidates for the panel.
Nearly a hundred potential jury members will go into the courtroom of Los Angeles for a third long day of interrogation during the trial, where Rocky is accused of two charges for abuse with a semi -automatic firearm because in 2021 he would have shot a former friend in Hollywood .
The opening speeches will probably start during the next session, now that all twelve jury members and the four deputies have been sitting.
“I am pretty sure that we will have a jury tomorrow,” said Judge Mark Arnold of the Supreme Court on Wednesday at the end of the court session and thanked the panel members for their patience. “This will not continue forever.”
