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By Erin Keller
Reporter (Live News)
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With the jury set, opening statements in A$AP Rocky's Los Angeles felony assault trial begins Friday, and the public will be able to watch it live.
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What is A$AP Rock Charged With?
A$AP Rocky, 36, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. The charges stem from a 2021 incident where he allegedly fired shots at his former friend A$AP Relli, whose legal name is Terell Ephron.
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A$AP Rocky declined a plea deal Tuesday, including 180 days in jail, a suspended sentence, and probation.
Why It Matters
A$AP, a GRAMMY-nominated artist, is set to co-chair the 2025 Met Gala this year and star in a Spike Lee film. He also shares two young sons with his girlfriend Rihanna. If convicted on all charges, A$AP Rocky could get up to 24 years in prison.
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How To Watch A$AP Rocky's Trial
The Associated Press and Court TV will all be livestreaming A$AP Rocky's assault trial on YouTube starting at 1 p.m. EST Friday.
Newsweek previously confirmed that Superior Judge Mark Arnold is allowing one camera in the courtroom for this trial, so all streams will likely show the same footage from inside the court.
Jury in A$AP Rocky Trial
The 12-person jury in A$AP Rocky's trial is made up of seven women and five men. There are no Black jurors, which was a concern of A$AP Rocky's legal team during jury selection. They noted that of the 106 people pooled for the jury, only five of them were Black. Al Sharpton also spoke out about the lack of Black people in the jury pool for the trial, given the demographic makeup of Los Angeles.
Members of the jury are White, Asian, and Hispanic. The four alternate jurors are all women.
One woman on the jury is a firearms instructor with multiple lawyers in her family. One female alternate is an entertainment attorney.
Joe Tacopina, an attorney for A$AP Rocky, told Newsweek on Thursday that the rapper's legal team is okay with having the firearms instructor on the jury because they have "nothing to hide" and wanted a juror familiar with firearms.
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What People Are Saying
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani to Newsweek about the female firearm instructor juror: "What you want if you're the prosecution — this isn't the strongest case in the world — so maybe prosecutors firmly believe that this person is in their camp and on their side. But if she's not, she can easily hang the panel. She can even result in an acquittal."
Attorney Michael McAuliffe to Newsweek about the firearms instructor juror: "The advantage is she can easily understand the information about guns and bullets, but the potential downside is that she'll become in effect an expert witness for the other jurors."
Tacopina added in his statement to Newsweek: "Shame on any 'lawyer' who opines on who is or isn't a good juror for either side without being in the courtroom or without knowing a stitch of evidence. They are clearly looking to get their name in the press. Maybe they should try a case and then comment on that case."
What's Next
Opening statements in A$AP Rocky's trial in LA begin Friday at 10:30 a.m. local time.
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