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One week after rapper ASAP Rocky was declared not guilty of any crimes in his 2021 shooting case with ASAP Relli, the latter said that he would proceed with the civil case. The civil complaint was initially launched by Relli in 2022, but it was put on hold while the criminal case was ongoing.
Rolling Stone reported on Wednesday, February 26, that Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Fahey set a trial date of January 12, 2026, for the civil case and removed the stay on Relli's assault and battery complaint against Rocky.
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According to the same outlet, Melissa Mikail, Relli's attorney, informed the judge:
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“We intend to continue litigating this case.. The standard in a criminal case is much higher than the preponderance of the evidence standard in a civil matter. We still believe that our claims have merit, and we intend on fully litigating them.”
The case was brought after ASAP Rocky was acquitted on February 18, 2021, of shooting at his old friend, ASAP Relli. After three weeks of testimony, Rocky was cleared of all criminal charges in the case regarding a 2021 incident in which he reportedly shot a gun in Relli's direction in Hollywood, California.
ASAP Rocky is facing another civil lawsuit by ASAP Relli
Relli's attorney, Melisa Mikhail, reportedly made a virtual appearance at the hearing and stated that she didn't want to dismiss the case. She further pointed out that a civil court has a lesser burden of proof than a criminal court.
The civil case, which was first brought in 2022, will have its next hearing on May 28. Outside the court in downtown Los Angeles, James Sargent, ASAP Rocky's civil attorney, said that he was confident his client would win again.
During the same, he also told Rolling Stone, addressing Relli with his birth name, Ephron:
“The allegations Mr. Ephron raises in this case stem from the same incident that a jury of 12 people rejected wholesale. Mr. Ephron testified there, and the jury, in the face of that testimony, returned a complete acquittal. So we look forward to a full vindication of Mr. Mayers in this matter.”
For the uninitiated, Relli claimed that ASAP Rocky had shot him with a semiautomatic handgun on November 6, 2021, in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, after they got into a fight next to a parking garage at the intersection of Selma Avenue and Vista Del Mar Avenue.
ASAP Rocky strongly denied shooting at his old childhood friend, but Relli said that he was slightly hurt by the gunshot. During the trial, in under three hours, the jury decided that there was insufficient evidence to convict Rocky.
However, as per BET's February 19 report, jurors stated in post-trial interviews with the media that they thought Rocky was lying when he claimed to be carrying a fake gun rather than a real one.
Additionally, one juror stated that the jury thought a crime had been committed. However, the prosecution's key witness, Relli, was not regarded as reliable or believable by jurors.
ASAP Rocky has been charged in both criminal and civil cases following the incident. However, his criminal lawyer, Tacopina, contended that the weapon was actually a fake gun loaded with blanks.
After nearly three hours of deliberation on Tuesday, February 18, the jury returned a verdict. Judge Mark Arnold read the second "not guilty" verdict slowly. ASAP Rocky avoided a sentence of more than 20 years in prison as a result of the verdict.
Additionally, Rocky's coworkers, ASAP Twelvyy and ASAP Lou, backed up his lawyer Joe Tacopina during the closing arguments. Meanwhile, the prosecution offered ASAP Rocky a guilty plea to one count with only six months in prison, probation, and other conditions on the eve of trial, but he declined.
In the meantime, both ASAP Relli and ASAP Rocky's lawyers have been contacted by Billboard for comment, however, the outlet hasn't heard back as of yet.
