rewrite this content and keep HTML tags Breadcrumb Trail LinksCelebrityAuthor of the article:Associated PressAndrew DaltonPublished Nov 20, 2023 • 4 minute read Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, departs the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center after a preliminary hearing in his assault with a semiautomatic firearm case in Los Angeles, California, on 20 November 2023. The charges stem from a November 2021 incident where Rocky allegedly pointed a semi-automatic handgun at Terell Ephron and fired multiple times. Photo by ALLISON DINNER /POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesReviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.Article contentLOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles judge found Monday that there is enough evidence for A$AP Rocky to stand trial on charges that he fired a gun at a former friend and collaborator outside a Hollywood hotel in 2021.Advertisement 2This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.REGISTER TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Article contentSuperior Court Judge M.L. Villar made the ruling at at a preliminary hearing, after hearing roughly a day and a half of testimony. Rocky has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. His attorney attempted to cast doubt on the case while questioning a police detective.Article contentThe 35-year-old hip-hop star, fashion mogul and two-time Grammy nominee is in a relationship with Rihanna, with whom he has two young sons.Villar said “the totality of the video and testimony” shows there is sufficient evidence for the defendant to go to trial. She emphasized that preliminary hearings have a much lower evidence standard than a trial, and she was only finding probable cause.Rocky, sitting in the courtroom, showed no visible reaction.Your Midday SunYour noon-hour look at what’s happening in Toronto and beyond.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.Thanks for signing up!A welcome email is on its way. 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Please try againArticle contentAdvertisement 3This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentAt the first day of the hearing, which resumed Monday after a long delay, Terell Ephron testified that he and Rocky, a friend since childhood, had belonged to the same collective of musicians and artists at their New York high school.He said their relationship had started to go sour and resulted in the standoff in Hollywood on Nov. 6, 2021, when he said Rocky first pulled a gun on him, and in a later confrontation fired shots that grazed Ephron’s knuckles.Rocky’s attorney Joe Tacopina established while questioning a police detective that seven officers who searched a sidewalk and street about 20 minutes after the shots were allegedly fired found no evidence of the shooting, and that a pair of 9 mm shell casings in police possession were recovered by Ephron, who returned to the scene about an hour after the standoff.Advertisement 4This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentTacopina played body camera video of the officers, who searched the ground for about 10 minutes. Ephron, who first went to police to report the incident two days later, turned over the shell casings, which the detective said had no recoverable fingerprints on them.Prosecutors showed a separate video from near the scene where no people are initially visible, but what sounds like two gunshots can be heard. Then a man comes running around a corner, then slows to a walk. The man’s identity is not clear in the video, but Flores testified they have established it is Rocky.LAPD Detective Frank Flores testified under Tacopina’s questioning that no 9 mm pistol was recovered when a search warrant was served on Rocky.Prosecutors showed a still from surveillance video showing a man in a hooded sweatshirt whose face is not visible holding what appears to be a gun, along with another image from the same video showing the face of the man in the sweatshirt, with no gun visible. Flores testified that the combined images led them to establish it was Rocky.Advertisement 5This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentTacopina, who is also representing Donald Trump in his New York criminal case and others, pressed the detective on the weapon, suggesting police had no way of knowing whether it was a loaded or even real gun.“That gun or whatever it was was not tested, right?” Tacopina asked. “No, it was never recovered,” Flores said.Tacopina asked, “You’re not sure if it’s an operable gun or a non-operable gun or whatever?”“Without having it, I can’t tell you whether it’s operable,” the detective replied.Tacopina tried to cast doubt on the minor injury to Ephron’s hand, questioning why he waited until he returned to New York to seek medical treatment.He showed the detective a photo of the scraped fingers and said, sarcastically, “It’s a miracle he survived that shooting.”Advertisement 6This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentThe judge admonished him, one of several times she told Tacopina to change his tone.Rocky was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in the case in April, and charged in August. He arrived in the courtroom Monday morning wearing a dark suit, sunglasses and a face mask, after spending the weekend at the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix auto race, where he had a prominent role as Puma’s creative director in the clothing brand’s partnership with F1.He has released little music in recent years, and has become better known as the romantic partner, fellow fashion influencer and co-parent of Rihanna, with whom he had a second son in May. His first two studio albums in 2013 and 2015 both went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200.Rocky also became an unlikely cause for then-President Donald Trump, who said he was trying to get the rapper freed and returned to the U.S. when he was jailed after a brawl in Sweden in 2019. He was found guilty of assault at trial but was given a “conditional sentence” that meant no additional jail time.In California courts, preliminary hearings like these are a sort of miniature version of a trial, with only a judge deciding whether sufficient evidence exists to move forward. The standard of proof for doing so is far lower than what’s required for criminal guilt.Article contentShare this article in your social networkCommentsPostmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. 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A$AP Rocky must stand trial on charges he fired gun at ex-friend
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