A$AP Rocky was acquitted of the fees against him in his criminal trial, but certainly one of the jurors has said the rapper was lucky to avoid a conviction.
Rocky has been embroiled in a legal battle since his arrest in April 2022 after he was charged with two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
The “Peso” rapper was involved in an altercation together with his former friend, A$AP Relli, who accused him of firing a gun at him in November 2021.
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Juror Speaks Out About A$AP Rocky’s Not Guilty Verdict
Although Rocky, real name Rakim Mayers, was acquitted of the fees against him, certainly one of the jurors in his trial has opened up in regards to the thought process before arriving at their verdict.
In a chat with freelance journalist Nique at Nite, the unidentified female juror spoke candidly in regards to the decision to not convict the rapper.
She said, per BET, “Everybody was really focused on delivering justice. I believe that we actually took our time. We discussed all the problems, all of the questions that we had, we clarified those, we actually form of looked over some pieces of the evidence that folks desired to see slightly bit more closely.”
The juror added, “And I believe that we did the very best we could with the instructions that we had, and with the evidence that we had.”
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Some Jury Members Believed A ‘Crime Had Been Committed’
The juror also shared that though a vote suggested that the jury leaned toward a verdict, some jurors had their doubts.
She explained, “I believe we form of were almost at the decision [but] we had a pair of individuals, including myself, who … still had some questions and we were all considering that a criminal offense had been committed.”
The lady added, “However the thing is with the instructions we had and with the law, we didn’t think there was enough evidence to convict.”
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Juror Claims A$AP Rocky’s Defense Didn’t Persuade Most Jury Members
The prosecution claimed Rocky fired a gun at Relli, but his defense team countered by stating that he used a prop gun, which he carried for security purposes.
Nevertheless, the rapper’s defense didn’t persuade most jury members. The juror said, “I believe most of us felt it was a gun. Just from the behavior on the videos and from a number of the testimony.”
She added, “Unfortunately, a variety of the witnesses—we didn’t consider all of their testimonies to be reliable.”
The juror also highlighted how the dearth of the alleged gun, which was never recovered, further fueled skepticism and created a big gap within the prosecution’s case.
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She said, “I didn’t really consider it. I didn’t think that … that they had really convincing evidence that it was a prop gun. It was form of slightly mystery the way in which it disappeared, and so they couldn’t produce it as evidence. So a number of the testimony didn’t sound accurate or truthful.”
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Juror Advises A$AP Rocky
Rocky was delighted to be acquitted after a three-week trial. If convicted of the crime he was charged with, the “Praise The Lord” rapper could have faced a jail term of as much as 24 years.
The juror believes Rocky was lucky there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him and admonished him to tread fastidiously in the longer term.
She said, “I hope that in the longer term, Mr. Mayers really thinks about his actions before he’s upset with any individual.”
The lady added, “He does have so much to lose. He’s lucky, at this point, that we did not have enough evidence at hand down a conviction.”
Fans React To Juror’s Comments
TMZ reposted a video of the juror’s interview on Instagram, and lots of fans took turns sharing their thoughts on it.
One person quipped, “I believed jurors aren’t imagined to talk in regards to the cases? Hope her 15 seconds of fame is value it.”
One other person added, “So principally, you let him go free with a warning.”
A 3rd fan shared, “Normally jurors value their right to privacy. This one is dying for attention. Jesus.”
One other fan expressed, “She probably just doesn’t ever wish to be on the jury anymore.”
A fifth person commented, “They were fearful of Rihanna.”
