A$AP Rocky’s longtime tour manager appeared at the rapper’s gun assault trial in Los Angeles Monday and claimed he knows what happened to the purported prop pistol Rocky said he fired during an argument with a former friend on a Hollywood street corner three years ago.
Louis Levin told jurors that two months after Rocky had the Nov. 6, 2021 confrontation with A$AP Relli, Levin took custody of the prop gun and carried it with him on a private jet back to New York. Under oath, Levin said he ultimately returned the prop gun to the co-director of Rocky’s “D.M.B.” music video, the same individual who allegedly first supplied the non-lethal gun to Rocky when the video was filmed with Rihanna in July 2021. The co-director was not identified by name.
“The decision was made because, like I said, [Rocky] carried it to deter violence, and on Nov. 6, obviously, it didn’t work. And he decided to just get actual armed security, and he didn’t want to carry it anymore,” Levin, also known as A$AP Lou, testified. “I flew back to New York with it and gave it to the co-director we got it from.”
Levin told jurors that he and Rocky, born Rakim Mayers, first met in 2010, when Mayers pulled him out of a crowd at a show because he liked his “energy.” Levin said he started working for Mayers as his personal assistant and later became a tour DJ and tour manager. Levin said he was present during filming of the “D.M.B.” video, where he allegedly saw the prop gun for the first time. “He got it from that video shoot,” Levin testified. “I was on set, and I handled it there.”
Levin said he again saw Mayers with the alleged prop gun, which he described as a Glock 26, just hours before the incident at the center of the trial. He said Mayers was at a dress rehearsal for a ComplexCon performance in Long Beach and handed it over to him for safekeeping while he was “running around” on stage. Levin said Mayers’ close circle of friends knew he carried a prop gun as a security measure because the rapper got “jumped” in a club in 2018 and was the victim of a stalker and multiple home invasions.
The defense called Levin to shore up Mayers’ claim he was firing blanks, not real 9mm bullets, when he pulled the trigger on two “warning shots” the night of the scuffle with Relli, born Terell Ephron. Mayers, 36, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. He claims he fired the warning shots to stop Ephron from attacking A$AP Illz, another friend with them that night whose real name is Illijah Ulanger.
According to prosecutors, Mayers was the aggressor during the two-part confrontation that started when Mayers allegedly brandished a black gun and threatened to kill Ephron at the entrance to a parking garage not far from the famed Hollywood and Vine intersection. Prosecutors claim Mayers later opened fire on Ephron a block away, grazing Ephron’s left hand with a bullet that left visible injuries under his knuckles. Ephron described the alleged shooting during his own testimony, saying it was like a movie. He said he never attacked Ulanger and that grainy security video instead showed him grabbing Ulanger to use him as a “human shield” after Mayers fired the first shot.
If convicted as charged, Mayers is facing a maximum possible sentence of 24 years in prison, though he’d likely receive much less. During a dramatic moment Monday, Levin let it slip on the witness stand that he’d read Mayers was facing up to 24 years behind bars. “I don’t want him to go to jail for 24 years,” Levin blurted out, saying the max sentence a second time. Jurors aren’t supposed to consider sentences while deliberating, so the judge agreed to admonish the jury they shouldn’t consider the testimony.
Levin faced a fierce cross-examination from Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, who sought to poke holes in the claim that Levin was the actual owner of the Glock magazine loaded with 9mm bullets that was found in Mayers’ bedroom closet during a surprise raid on April 20, 2022. Levin testified Monday that he brought two of his own pistols over to Mayers’ house sometime in the summer of 2021 because they planned to visit a shooting range together. He claimed the outing never happened, but while he was “oiling” and preparing his guns, he noticed for the first time that he “mistakenly” grabbed a Glock 43 magazine from an accessories rack at a gun shop when he purchased his Glock 42. He said that when he tried to load the magazine with the .380 rounds for his Glock 42, he noticed they were too small. He said he never sought to return the magazine after realizing his error because it only cost $20.
Lewin seized on the fact that the magazine was loaded with six rounds of 9mm ammunition when it was recovered. He asked Levin why anyone would have loaded the magazine with so much valuable ammunition knowing it didn’t fit any available firearms. Levin said he was “fidgeting” with the magazine that night while hanging out and loaded it and left it behind without thinking.
“Isn’t it true sir, that this information about the Glock 43 magazine is what is called a lie? That it never happened?” Lewin asked, leading to an objection that caused him to move on to another question. “Isn’t it true, that the reason that 9mm magazine was at the defendant’s house was because he had a 9mm firearm, a Glock 43, that he used in this shooting of Relli, and that that was simply the second magazine that he forgot to get rid of? Isn’t that what happened?” Lewin asked.
“No,” Levin replied as Mayers sat quietly at the defense table. Levin went on to testify that he tried to track down the prop gun after Mayers was charged by calling the video director. “I asked him if he still had it, and he said, ‘No,’” Levin testified. “I asked if we could get it back, and he said, no, it was gone.” He said the prop had been placed in a storeroom that was accessible to lots of people and it simply went missing. Asked why he didn’t tell police the gun was a prop when he was present at Mayers’ house for the surprise search, Levin claimed he didn’t understand what was happening at the time and showed up with keys so officers wouldn’t have to break down any doors. “We have nothing to hide so I was there if they needed anything,” he testified.
When Levin was excused from the stand, Judge Mark Arnold asked if the defense was ready to put up another witness. At that point, Mayers’ lawyer Joe Tacopina said he needed a minute, and the judge excused the jury for the day. Tacopina later told the court Mayers had not yet decided whether he would testify in his own defense. “We’re going to have a discussion right now,” Tacopina said, referring to Mayers. “If he chooses to not testify,” Tacopina said, the defense would be resting after one more quick witness Tuesday morning. He didn’t identify the individual but said the testimony “should be a minute long.”
Judge Arnold said that if Mayers doesn’t testify, it would be up to Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec whether he start his closing argument Tuesday or wait until Thursday. (Wednesday is a court holiday.)
In opening statements, Przelomiec said the case wasn’t complicated and asked the jury “to not leave your common sense at the door.” Throughout the trial, he and Lewin have sought to undermine the prop gun defense, casting it as implausible. The defense, meanwhile, has painted Relli as an unreliable witness who’s suing for $30 million. They say he fabricated the 9mm shell casings he allegedly recovered from the scene after police searched the street and found nothing.
“This case is about one mans’ jealousy, lies, and greed,” Tacopina said. “Ladies and gentleman, this case is all about money. The evidence will show you it’s nothing more than a money grab,” the attorney said. “The evidence will make clear Relli is trying to leverage a fabricated story to extract money from Rocky.”
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