A$AP Rocky found not guilty in felony assault trial that accused him of firing gun at former friend

LOS ANGELES -- A$AP Rocky was found not guilty in the felony assault trial that accused him of firing two shots at a former friend on a Hollywood street corner in 2021.

As the not-guilty verdict was read, an emotional Rocky immediately rushed to hug his superstar partner Rihanna.

The Los Angeles courtroom, full of fans of the hip-hop performer and his singing superstar partner, exploded into screaming glee as Rocky and Rihanna embraced and sobbed.

After a three-week trial, the jury deliberated for just three hours to reach the verdict that spared Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, a prison sentence that could have run more than two decades.

"Thank y'all for saving my life," he told the jurors as they left the Los Angeles courtroom.

Amid the chaos, it took the clerk a while to read the second not guilty verdict, though it was very unlikely the jury would split on the counts.

Rocky once again expressed his gratitude for the jury outside the courthouse, saying "I really want to thank the jury for making the right decision. I'm just so thankful, this is crazy right now."

"This whole experience has been crazy for the past four years but I'm thankful, nonetheless, I'm thankful and I'm blessed to be here right now, to be a free man talking to y'all right now," Rocky added.

After the trial, Rihanna took to Instagram to say, "The glory belongs to God and God alone! Thankful. Humbled by His mercy!"

Jurors got the case late Friday after a prosecutor told them in his closing argument that they must set aside their feelings for the hip-hop star, Rihanna, and their small children.

Rihanna attended the trial sporadically and brought the couple's two sons - 2-year-old RZA Athelston Mayers and 1-year-old Riot Rose Mayers - for some of the closing arguments.

Deputy District Attorney John Lewin suggested it was an attempt to manipulate jurors.

"They brought in two adorable children yesterday for closing argument," Lewin said. "They haven't been here any other time. And you have to ask yourselves, why children that age would be here in a situation like this?"

During a press conference after the trial, Tacopina addressed that argument.

"I took offense to prosecutor Lewin saying that they manufactured some sort of appearance of family in this summation.They're a family, he said. "That's why she was here to support and that's why his kids came here so much for him."

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman released a statement that read in part "While today's verdict is not the outcome we sought, we respect the jury's decision and the integrity of our justice system. Our office remains committed to seeking accountability for those who break the law, no matter their status or influence."

Rocky's attorneys argued that he only fired blanks that evening in 2021 from a prop gun he had picked up for security on a music video shoot. During his closing argument, lawyer Joe Tacopina cast his accuser, who goes by A$AP Relli, as the aggressor and an unreliable liar.

Tacopina showed the jury belligerent text messages from just before the confrontation, later deleted by Relli, where he urges Rocky to beat him up. The prosecution had shown only Rocky's angry responses to suggest he started the fight. But it was not the opposing lawyers' fault, he said.

"Their witness lied to them, lied to police, and deleted the messages," Tacopina said. "He destroyed evidence."

Tacopina showed jurors the transcript of the moment during testimony that he confronted Relli about the messages.

"At first he said, 'I don't recall.' Then I showed him the messages," Tacopina said. "What did he say next? His go-to line. 'It's fake! It's fake!' Anything that crushed him was fake."

He dwelled on how combative Relli was on the stand.

"That was in front of you," Tacopina said. "Imagine what he's like in the street."

Shifting to the street, Tacopina narrated the surveillance video that partially showed the initial confrontation to say Relli started the fight. He pointed out that the video shows Relli raising his arm to take on Rocky as the first move - though Rocky is out of frame at that moment.

"If you had to make a decision, the most important in your life or that of your family's, on his word, would you do it? You all know what the answer to that question is," the lawyer said. Then he pointed at Rocky. "What you're being asked to do is to make that decision in the most important matter of his life."

Relli said his knuckles were grazed by one of the shots but he was otherwise not injured.

Neither side produced a gun as evidence.

He returned repeatedly to Rocky's status.

"He is a big, important man, and everybody serves him," Lewin said.

During a break in the presentation, Judge Mark Arnold told Lewin to stop the references to Rocky's family.

"The manner in which you did it - I don't think it was improper," the judge said. "But you cannot mention again Rihanna being in the courtroom, or the kids being in the courtroom."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.