A$AP Rocky Trial: A$AP Relli Makes Surprise Admission in Gun Assault Trial
The man who claims A$AP Rocky shot live 9 mm bullets at him on a Hollywood street corner three years ago finished his potentially pivotal testimony today with the surprise admission he was at a Los Angeles gun range, firing a semi-automatic pistol, just two weeks before the incident at the center of the case.
A$AP Relli, born Terell Ephron, made the dramatic disclosure after telling jurors last week that the video showing him firing the weapon on Oct. 19, 2021, “probably” was filmed in New Jersey, close to his home at the time, but at the very least was not from Los Angeles. “I wasn’t in L.A.,” he testified Friday.
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Back on the witness stand today, Ephron said he had a chance to review his Instagram archive over the weekend and determined that the video was in fact from the Los Angeles Gun Club. He said he’d been visiting Southern California on a business trip that week but that he then returned to the East Coast before traveling back to Los Angeles in the days leading up to his Nov. 6, 2021, confrontation with Rocky, born Rakim Mayers.
The gun club video — and Ephron’s contradictory testimony about it — could prove significant considering Mayers has built his defense around two central claims: that he was only carrying a starter pistol the night of the incident, and that Ephron “planted” the two 9 mm shell casings that he claims he found when he returned to the scene after police searched and found nothing.
During contentious cross-examination, defense lawyer Joe Tacopina grilled Ephron over what caused him to go back and review his archive and then call prosecutors Sunday afternoon to let them know it was a Los Angeles gun club. Ephron said he simply did his “homework” and accused Tacopina of trying to be “slick” and “sneaky.” The judge ordered him to stop hurling “insults.” Tacopina kept the pressure up, asking Ephron if it was coincidence he researched his archive around the same time a Twitter user posted an interior photo of the Los Angeles Gun Club that appeared “identical” to the Ephron video. After more exasperated back and forth, Ephron said he testified Friday that the gun club was outside Los Angeles because he’d lost his patience with Tacopina. “I just wanted to stop talking to you,” he said today.
Under questioning by deputy district attorney Paul Przelomiec, Ephron told jurors today that he absolutely did not fabricate or plant any evidence in the case. He said that for two years after the alleged shooting, he consistently told police he believed Mayers had fired three or four times. He said it wasn’t until a probable-cause hearing in November 2023 that he first heard audio from the incident depicting only two loud pops. “If I planted, [I] would have brought exactly what I said,” he testified, meaning he would have planted three or four casings. He only found two, he testified. “I never planted nothing,” he said on the witness stand today.
Mayers, 36, has pleaded not guilty. He claims he was carrying the starter pistol on the advice of security experts after he was the victim of a stalker and a home invasion. The “Sundress” rapper admits he fired two “warning shots” from the pistol but says it was only to break up a scuffle between Ephron and Illijah “A$AP Illz” Ulanger, another member of the A$AP Mob collective.
Mayers is adamant he never fired any live bullets. He alleges Ephron concocted the shooting story to extort him, pointing to Ephron’s $30 million civil lawsuit against him. During his opening statement, Tacopina told jurors the case hinges on the credibility of Ephron, and he said Ephron couldn’t be trusted. If convicted as charged, Mayers is facing up to 24 years in prison, prosecutors have said.
Surveillance video at the center of the trial was first shown in court in November 2023. It’s a series of clips from multiple commercial and residential cameras depicting Mayers holding some type of firearm. The blurry, black and white video of the alleged shooting has no visible muzzle flash and had no sound when it was recorded near the corner of Selma Avenue and Vista Del Mar Avenue in Hollywood. When the compilation was played again during opening statements, footage of the alleged shooting was synchronized with the sound of two loud cracking noises captured as the audio to a different video from around the corner. Przelomiec told jurors during opening statements that they were able to marry the sound from one video to the other because a security floodlight triggered during the incident and was visible in both.
Over his four days of testimony, Ephron said he and Mayers met in high school and were friends for more than a decade before they had a series of disagreements that strained their relationship leading up to the alleged shooting. He claimed Mayers verbally threatened to kill him and then opened fire.
Under cross-examination, Ephron became combative and defensive, especially when asked about the $30 million lawsuit. He robotically answered “I don’t recall” several times, complained he had a headache and taunted Tacopina. “Let’s go, Mr. Tacopina, let’s go,” he said at one point.
Asked why he followed Rocky around a corner after the rapper first showed a firearm, Ephron gave varying answers. “Yeah, I was afraid, I was hurt, I was a lot of things,” he testified. When he was questioned over his sworn testimony from the 2023 probable-cause hearing, where he said under oath that he was not afraid, Ephron revised his answer. “I was feeling a lot of different things, but at the moment, I was just mad.”
During a lengthy cross-examination, Tacopina focused many questions on Ephron’s alleged access to 9 mm ammunition. He got Ephron to admit he purchased a 9 mm Stacatto gun after he moved to Florida following the alleged shooting. Ephron also claimed he “definitely [did] not” fire any 9 mm ammunition at a shooting range in October 2021. That’s when Tacopina first confronted him with the video showing Ephron standing at the shooting range. He also showed jurors a photo of a firearm at the gun range.
“That’s not my gun,” Ephron said. Undeterred, Tacopina asked if it was a 9 mm semiautomatic. “I don’t know. I’m not a gun expert,” Ephron replied.
“In the video, did you see shell casings ejecting backwards as you fired? In the video we just showed. Do you see it, that’s all I’m asking,” Tacopina pressed.
“I guess,” Ephron replied. Tacopina played the video again for jurors to clearly see the shell casings ejecting over Ephron’s shoulder. Ephron begrudgingly said he saw them.
When Tacopina scrutinized Ephron over his decision to wait two days before going to the police, Ephron defended the delay, saying he was flooded with emotions and wasn’t sure he trusted law enforcement. He was subsequently confronted with a text message he sent to one of his business partners about five hours after the alleged shooting. “I want to get this n—‘a money,” the text sent at 3:40 a.m. on Nov. 7, 2021, read as it was projected on a courtroom screen. “Was that referring to Rocky?” Tacopina asked.
“Yeah, I got damages. I’m suing him. I already got a lawyer,” Ephron said.
Hounded over purported recordings of conversations in which he allegedly told an associate he was going to “sue the shit out of Rocky,” Ephron said the recordings were “fake.” The denial meant Tacopina couldn’t play the recordings for jurors with Ephron on the stand. (Tacopina later called Wally Sajimi to the stand and was able to play the recordings. Sajimi, a tech specialist who worked for both Mayers and Ephron, said under oath that he recorded the calls and didn’t alter them. In one snippet played for jurors, Ephron was heard saying in 2022 that he was willing to “walk away” and go hide from prosecutors on an island if Mayers paid him.)
Tacopina also interrogated Ephron over his injured left hand. Ephron told the jury he immediately felt a “hot” sensation after hearing the first shot. He said a bullet grazed his hand just under his knuckles and that he wrapped the injuries until he had a chance to seek medical attention back in New York on Nov. 9, 2021. Tacopina questioned him about the hospital visit, saying he was released after spending one hour and 36 minutes for a “superficial” injury.
When Tacopina downplayed the alleged wound, Ephron took offense. “Are you a ballistic person?” Ephron asked derisively. “From what I know, [President] Trump got hit in the ear. He got a little graze.”
When Tacopina quizzed Ephron on Friday over video of someone seen on surveillance video seemingly searching the street after police left, Ephron said it definitely wasn’t him. Previously, under direct questioning, Ephron initially said the lone individual was him before changing his mind. Tacopina sought to exploit the inconsistency and asked Ephron about his claim to police that he returned to the scene with a girlfriend. Tacopina asked him to identify the girlfriend though a photo he presented at the witness box without letting the jury see. “Is this Ms. Parker?” Tacopina asked. Ephron said he couldn’t tell. “You don’t know if this is your girlfriend?” the lawyer pressed. “I don’t know, can’t tell,” Ephron said. “She’s got makeup on.”
Outside the presence of the jury, deputy district attorney John Lewin accused Tacopina of selecting an inappropriate photo to “absolutely enrage” Ephron. Lewin said Ephron was “protective” of his “family.” Tacopina shot back that the girlfriend was “not his family. She’s a prostitute.” Lewin then accused Tacopina of seeking to prejudice the jury by hinting at her alleged “profession.” The two lawyers then turned to each other and started trading heated jabs. At one point, Tacopina called Lewin a “clown,” leading Judge Mark Arnold to yell, “Stop it!” as Mayers stepped in between Lewin and Tacopina to signal it was time to walk away.
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