A$AP Rocky dives into Rihanna’s arms after not guilty verdict in assault trial
Global News
'Thank y'all for saving my life,' ASAP Rocky told the jurors as they left the courtroom after sparing him a prison sentence where he could have faced up to 24 years in prison.
After a jury found rapper A$AP Rocky not guilty at his trial on two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm, he celebrated by diving into the arms of Rihanna in the packed courtroom.
The Los Angeles courtroom, full of fans and family, exploded into celebration as Rocky leapt from the defence table, over a barrier and into the gallery, where Rihanna sat between his mother, Renee Black, and sister, Erika B. Mayers. They embraced and sobbed.
Amid the chaos, it took the clerk a few minutes to read the second not guilty verdict once Rocky returned to the defence table after hugging his longtime girlfriend.
“I didn’t know how athletic he was,” Rocky’s lawyer Joe Tacopina told reporters outside the courthouse. “That was raw emotion, you guys got to see that. Even for us it was insane.”
After a tense 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 of up to 24 years in prison.
“Thank y’all for saving my life,” Rocky told the jurors as they left the courtroom.
“Mr. Mayers, you’re excused,” Judge Mark Arnold said.
On the eve of trial, Rocky turned down a prosecution offer of just six months in jail, along with probation and other conditions, if he pleaded guilty to one count.
