Juror in ASAP Rocky’s Assault Trial Believed Gun Was Real But Lacked Evidence to Convict
A juror in ASAP Rocky’s assault trial is speaking out following the rapper’s not guilty verdict, revealing that while the jury believed he had a real gun, they lacked sufficient solid evidence to convict him.
On Tuesday (Feb. 18), the rapper, born Rakim Mayers, was acquitted of two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm after being accused of shooting at former friend Terell Ephron, better known as ASAP Relli during a 2021 altercation in Los Angeles.
Shortly after the verdict, blogger Nique at Nite caught up with an unidentified juror outside the downtown L.A. courthouse via a YouTube livestream. The juror shared details about the jury’s decision-making process.
“Everybody was really focused on delivering justice,” the juror explained. “I think that we really took our time. We discussed all the issues, all the questions that we had, we clarified those, we really kind of looked over some pieces of the evidence that people wanted to see a little bit more closely. And I think that we did the best we could with the instructions that we had, and with the evidence that we had.”
Despite a preliminary vote suggesting the jury was leaning toward a verdict, some members—including the juror who spoke out—still had lingering doubts.
“I think we kind of were almost at the verdict [but] we had a couple of people, including myself, who … still had some questions and we were all thinking that a crime had been committed,” she said. “But the thing is with the instructions we had and with the law that we didn't think that was enough evidence to convict.”
The prosecution argued that Rocky fired at Relli during the November 2021 altercation, while the rapper’s defense countered, claiming the weapon in question was merely a prop gun used for security purposes. However, the juror admitted that most of the jury wasn’t convinced by that defense.
“I think most of us felt it was a gun. Just from the behavior on the videos and from some of the testimony,” she revealed. “Unfortunately, a lot of the witnesses—we didn't consider all of their testimonies to be reliable.”
Adding to the skepticism was the fact that the alleged gun was never recovered, leaving a major gap in the prosecution’s case.
“I didn't really believe it. I didn't think that … they had really convincing evidence that it was a prop gun. It was kind of a little mysterious the way it disappeared, and they couldn't produce it as evidence,” the juror admitted. “So some of the testimony did not sound accurate or truthful.”
After a three-week trial, the jury—comprised of seven women and five men—deliberated for approximately three hours before reaching a unanimous verdict. Had he been convicted, the emcee could have faced up to 24 years in prison. Since his 2022 arrest, Rocky has remained free on bail.
As the jurors departed, he expressed his gratitude, saying, "Thank y’all for saving my life."
