Rihanna’s beau A$AP Rocky’s legal troubles continue
LOS ANGELES – An attorney for a hip hop artist who is suing rapper A$AP Rocky argues in new court papers that the rapper is not entitled to a stay of the plaintiff’s civil defamation suit pending the outcome of the rapper’s criminal case, maintaining that Rocky cannot rely solely on a Fifth Amendment infringement argument.
A$AP Relli lawyer Camille M. Vasquez, who also has represented Johnny Depp, says in her court papers that Rocky’s claims that his Fifth Amendment rights in the criminal case could be complicated by what he says during discovery in the civil case is not a strong argument.
A$AP Rocky and his lawyer are being sued by A$AP Relli for defamation. Image: asaprocky/IG
“If (Rocky) is in the undesirable position of having to choose between defending this civil action or asserting his privilege against self-incrimination, it is a position entirely of his own creation,” Vasquez states in her court papers filed Tuesday with Judge Randolph M. Hammock.
“(Rocky) Defendant has not set forth a particularized basis for the invocation of the privilege and his blanket request for a stay of the entire case is unfounded.”
Relli, whose real name is Terell Ephron, is suing the rapper and the rapper’s criminal case defense lawyer, Joe Tacopina, for defamation.
Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, pleaded not guilty in August 2022 in his ongoing criminal case in which the 35-year-old allegedly shot and injured Relli during an altercation in downtown Hollywood in November 2021. The criminal case is awaiting trial.
Relli is a member of the hip hop collective A$AP Mob. He maintains in the defamation suit filed Sept. 11 that Rocky and Tacopina have falsely portrayed him in the media as a liar, a money grabber and a blackmailer.
Relli also filed suit against Rocky in August 2022 stemming from the alleged shooting.
In his court papers filed in favor of a stay of the defamation suit, an attorney for Rocky states that the judge should hit the pause button on the case.
“This court has the discretion to stay civil proceedings or postpone civil discovery and trial in the interest of providing a fair trial to a defendant who will be forced to plead the Fifth Amendment in response to discovery requests and thus unable to defend himself,” Rocky’s lawyer states in his court papers.
“Simply put, (Rocky) will be faced with the proverbial Hobson’s choice of either asserting the Fifth Amendment and remaining silent or testifying in the civil case to defend himself. Not only will this result in an unfair trial for (Rocky), but it will also lead to an inefficient use of judicial resources.”
A hearing on Rocky’s request for a stay is scheduled Jan. 9. Vasquez became well-known to viewers of the televised Depp-Amber Heard defamation case trial because of her relentless cross-examination of the actress. Tacopina is a personal attorney for former President Trump. (CNS)
