From the moment it became clear the case was going to trial, nearly everyone involved was asking the same thing: What about Rihanna? Editors asked it of reporters, who asked it of lawyers. Even Judge Mark Arnold asked it months ago at a hearing: \u201cWill the mother of his children be there?\u201d Her name came up constantly during jury selection, when prospective panelists were asked whether her attendance would affect their judgment. Yet when the singing superstar finally did show up, she was easy to miss. She didn’t appear through the first week, but rumors abounded Wednesday that she might appear, on a short court day with important testimony. Yet there was no sign of her outside or in the halls. When the media were allowed in the courtroom, many reporters walked past her without noticing she was already sitting inconspicuously between Rocky’s mother and sister. She had been brought in through restricted entrances. She could barely be seen from the media section, and the camera capturing the trial is not allowed to shoot the audience. Her presence caused a quiet stir once the audience realized it, though it’s not clear if the jurors had noticed her. She appeared again the next day, and it soon felt almost unexceptional that she was there. By Friday, she slipped in about 30 minutes into testimony after coming through a public entrance. Later that day, she entered the courtroom together with Rocky for the first time, down a hallway full of jurors from his and other cases that was abuzz.<\/p>\n
Court observers knew that when Deputy District Attorney John Lewin joined the prosecution shortly before trial, that he and Rocky’s equally bullish and vocal attorney, Joe Tacopina, were sure to butt heads. They weren’t wrong. Lewin, a dogged prosecutor, is best known for his successful murder prosecution of real estate heir Robert Durst. Tacopina is a New York attorney and frequent TV commentator whose clients have included President Donald Trump. Their shouting matches began quickly. Soon, without judge or jury present, the two had to be separated by a fellow lawyer when they went nose-to-nose in a faceoff that looked like it might become a fistfight. \u201cMr. Tacopina started literally screaming at me in the courtroom. He basically appeared to challenge me to a fight,\u201d Lewin told the judge later. Tacopina responded. \u201cNo one screamed. You weren\u2019t there your honor. Mr. Lewin comes up with his little scolding, bullying attitude.\u201d Arnold, a former sheriff’s deputy, forbade the two from talking to each other except on the record. Moments later, he said a UFC fight might be warranted. \u201cMaybe we should get an octagon.\u201d Arnold wasn’t wrong either. An even more fierce fight broke out between the two men in front of the judge but off camera a few days later as they argued over evidence. Lewin shouted that the defense assertion Rocky was carrying a prop gun was \u201cgarbage." \u201cOh?! Oh?!\u201d Tacopina yelled. \u201cWe’ll see what the jury says at the end!" The argument grew more out of control and turned to personal insults. \u201cYou don’t know me! But you will learn!\u201d Tacopina yelled. The judge, disgusted, refused to keep playing referee. \u201cThat’s it, we’re off the record,\u201d he said, and walked out.<\/p>\n
The testimony of A$AP Relli, Rocky’s accuser, was dark and difficult but brought a couple of oddly light moments. At one point, Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec asked him how far away Rocky was at a certain moment. \u201cAbout three or four skips," Relli said. \u201cI\u2019ve never heard about anyone estimating with skips,\u201d Przelomiec said. \u201cWait, what does a skip mean?\u201d Relli asked. They determined for the record that it was about 7 to 8 feet. Arnold’s long-for-a-judge hair and rugged, bushy mustache evoke a biker, or a cowboy. His nameplate on the bench is a carved wooden log. Relli let him know he liked his style. As he testified, Arnold told him he clearly had to say \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d for the court reporter. Relli said sorry, he was nervous, then looking at the judge said, \u201cI like your bracelet.\u201d \u201cWhat?\u201d Arnold said. Relli pointed at the silver wristband on the judge’s right arm. \u201cYour bracelet.\u201d \u201cOh,\u201d the judge said. \u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rocky’s mother, Renee Black, and his sister, Erika Mayers, garnered their own share of attention even before Rihanna sat between them. The first day they appeared, Arnold asked Rocky who the women in his section were. \u201cThat’s my mother and my sister,\u201d Rocky said. The judge’s marveled at Black’s youthful appearance. \u201cWhat were you, 7 when you had him?\u201d the judge asked. She said she was 26. \u201cYou are very beautiful,\u201d the judge told her. \u201cThat\u2019s on the record.\u201d Later, Lewin politely approached the women and talked to them during a break. He said of Rocky, \u201cI just hope he’s evaluating everything\u201d in a reference to the deal Rocky turned down \u2014 a recommendation of 180 days in jail and other relatively minor punishments for a guilty plea on one count. Tacopina angrily brought it up to the judge later, and Lewin explained himself. \u201cI walked up very kindly to the defendant’s mother and sister. I said \u2018I am very sorry you have to go through this. I hope that your brother and your son, he\u2019s really evaluated what he\u2019s risking here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
During jury selection, when the room was packed with tired and seemingly bored potential jurors being questioned one after another, a woman gave everyone a start when she suddenly shouted, \u201cThere\u2019s a woman taking a picture in that corner!\u201d She pointed to a door with a small window behind the judge, who pounced into action, his robe flying. He and his clerk opened the door and hurried down the hall behind it, but found no one. The woman swore she saw someone and tried to justify herself, but Arnold cut her off. \u201cYou did the right thing!\u201d Arnold said. \u201cYou done good!\u201d They kept the window covered after that.<\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n The trial of A$AP Rocky has been marked by unusual moments, from Rihanna’s surprise appearances to the fiery exchanges between the prosecution and defense teams. With testimony expected to last another week, the outcome of the trial remains uncertain.<\/p>\n FAQs<\/strong><\/p>\n Q: What are the charges against A$AP Rocky? Q: What is the potential punishment for these charges? Q: Who is Rihanna, and what is her connection to the trial? Q: What is the relationship between the prosecution and defense teams in this trial? Inside A$AP Rocky’s Trial Waiting for Rihanna From the moment it became clear the case was going to trial, nearly everyone involved was asking the same thing: What about Rihanna? Editors asked it of reporters, who asked it of lawyers. Even Judge Mark Arnold asked it months ago at a hearing: \u201cWill the mother of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6472","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-reports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/media.nbclosangeles.com\/2025\/01\/AP25029653796107.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&resize=1200%2C675&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6472"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6472"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6474,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6472\/revisions\/6474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nA: Rocky is facing two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm.<\/p>\n
\nA: Rocky could face up to 24 years in prison if convicted.<\/p>\n
\nA: Rihanna is a singer and the mother of A$AP Rocky’s child. She has been a constant presence at the trial, often sitting in the courtroom and showing her support for Rocky.<\/p>\n
\nA: The prosecution team is led by Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, while the defense team is led by Joe Tacopina. The two teams have had a number of heated exchanges throughout the trial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"