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A$AP Rocky has been found not guilty in his on-going gun charges trial. After a weeks-long trial, a Los Angeles jury declared the rapper not guilty on two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. The verdict was reached on Tuesday, February 18, after hours of deliberation.
The case stems from a 2021 incident involving Rocky’s former friend, Terell Ephron. Ephron accused Rocky of shooting a gun at him and threatening his life outside of a Hollywood hotel. In his testimony, Ephron alleged that bullets from the shooting grazed his knuckles; Rocky’s attorneys maintained that their client was only in possession of a prop gun incapable of firing real bullets.
Rocky was arrested in April 2022 in connection with shooting and charged with two felonies in August of the same year. Initially scheduled to begin in November 2024, the trial was delayed until January 21, 2025 over Rocky’s scheduled performance at Rolling Loud in Thailand.
During the trial, two members of Rocky’s crew A$AP Mob, A$AP Twelvyy and A$AP Lou, took the stand and testified that Rocky had a prop gun on the night of the shooting. The defence also pointed to the fact that local police did not discover any shell casings or a gun during their investigation the night of the incident. Ephron claimed he found two casings at the scene himself, though defence attorneys used his visit to a shooting range two weeks prior as evidence that the casings may have been “planted.”
Prosecutors offered Rocky a plea deal before the trial began. The rapper declined the deal, which would have covered 180 days in jail, three years on probation, and “a few other minor conditions,” according to Rocky’s attorney Joe Tacopina. Rocky was facing up to 24 years in prison.
Separately from the criminal trial, Ephron has launched a civil defamation lawsuit against Rocky and Tacopina. He claims the pair defamed him in 10 separate instances prior to the beginning of the trial.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available
