A week after A$AP Rocky was found not guilty of firing a semiautomatic pistol at a former friend, the rapper’s accuser made clear he’s still moving ahead with his civil lawsuit over the same incident.
A lawyer for plaintiff Terell Ephron appeared remotely at a court hearing in downtown Los Angeles and said the former A$AP Mob member had no plans to abandon the assault and battery lawsuit that he filed against Rocky in August 2022, despite the unanimous jury verdict that acquitted Rocky on all charges following a three-week criminal trial. Once the lawyer doubled down, a judge lifted the stay that had placed the civil case on hold. The court set a Jan. 12, 2026 trial date for the lawsuit.
“We intend to continue litigating this case,” Ephron’s lawyer, Melissa Mikail, told the court at the hearing. “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.”
In his lawsuit, Ephron alleges Rocky, born Rakim Mayers, pulled out a handgun and fired at him during a verbal altercation on the corner of Selma Ave. and Vista Del Mar Ave. on Nov. 6, 2021. At the criminal trial, Ephron told jurors he immediately felt a hot sensation on his left hand and believed he was grazed by a bullet. Under fierce cross-examination, he was combative and confronted with allegations he perjured himself repeatedly.
Mayers has maintained his innocence from the start. He did not testify in his own defense, but his lawyer said he was only carrying a prop gun the night of the incident as a security measure. Two other A$AP Mob members testified that Mayers got the prop gun from the “D.M.B.” music video he shot with Rihanna in July 2021. The friends said the prop gun only fired blanks. The jury took a little more than three hours to determine there wasn’t enough evidence to convict. When he heard the verdict, Mayers jumped over a waist-high courtroom barrier to embrace his superstar partner Rihanna, who was seated in the front row. He then hugged his trial attorneys Joe Tacopina and Chad Siegel.
At the follow-up hearing in the related matter Wednesday, Mayers’ civil lawyer James Sargent said he didn’t believe the claims in Ephron’s lawsuit deserved a trial. “My position is there’s no longer a basis for them. Mr. Ephron testified in the criminal case as to the facts and circumstances. The jury’s acquittal speaks volumes as to how they valued that testimonial evidence,” Sargent told Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Fahey.
Fahey asked Sargent if he was the lawyer who represented Mayers in the criminal matter. Sargent said no; it was Tacopina and Siegel. “They obviously did a good job,” the judge commented.
Outside the courtroom after the hearing, Sargent told Rolling Stone he’s confident his client will prevail again. “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,” he said.
Asked if his client would entertain any form of a financial settlement offer after the judge ordered Ephron’s camp to make one, Sargent smiled. “No. We look forward to full vindication,” he said. “The plaintiff can take a sober assessment of the outcome of the criminal case and change course.”
During the criminal trial, jurors heard that Ephron sought a $30 million settlement from Mayers to avoid his public lawsuit. They also heard Ehpron telling a friend during a recorded phone call that he would disappear to a tropical island and not testify in the criminal case if he received a payout from Mayers. Tacopina told jurors that amounted to extortion.
The next hearing in the civil case is set for May 28.
