A$AP Rocky Declines to Testify in Shooting Trial

A$AP Rocky waived his right to testify on Tuesday (Feb. 11) during the ongoing trial over accusations that he fired a gun at former friend A$AP Relli near a Hollywood hotel in November 2021.

In a TMZ video, Superior Court Judge Mark S. Arnold reminds the former A$AP Mob rapper (real name Rakim Mayers) that he has the “right to get on the stand and give your side of the case” and the “right under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution not to testify.” When asked which right he wanted to invoke, Rocky responded by saying, “I want my right to not testify.”

Rocky was more vocal in court on Friday (Feb. 7) when he urged A$AP Twelvyy not to reveal the meaning behind AWGE, the former’s creative agency and record label. Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney John Lewin had asked Twelvyy to tell the courtroom what the letters stood for when Rocky insisted, “Don’t say it.”

Rocky’s attorney Joe Tacopina said on Monday (Feb. 10) that either his client would take the stand on Tuesday or the defense would rest its case, according to the Associated Press. Closing arguments will begin Thursday morning (Feb. 13) and the jury will start deliberations that afternoon.

Rocky is charged with two felony counts of assault with a firearm and faces 24 years in prison if convicted after turning down a plea deal for just 180 days in county jail. He was arrested in April 2022 at Los Angeles International Airport and posted a $550,000 bond shortly after. He pleaded not guilty to all charges in August 2022.