Lawyers for tech consultant Nima Momeni say he had no reason to kill Cash App founder Bob Lee
SAN FRANCISCO –
Attorneys for Nima Momeni, the tech advisor charged within the dying of Cash App founder Bob Lee, stated Monday that the 2 males had a cordial relationship and the defendant had no purpose to kill him.
The feedback from Momeni’s attorneys got here throughout a preliminary listening to, the place the prosecution presents its proof and a decide decides if there is sufficient to transfer forward to trial. The listening to will proceed Tuesday, when Momeni’s defence is anticipated to put out extra of their arguments.
Prosecutors have stated that Momeni, 38, deliberate the April 4 assault that left Lee dying on a desolate San Francisco road. They stated he drove Lee to a secluded spot and stabbed him thrice after a dispute associated to Momeni’s sister, Khazar.
But Tony Brass, one in all 4 defence attorneys current Monday, stated it was not Lee however one other man whom Momeni suspected of performing inappropriately together with his youthful sister.
“What you see is cordial, a cordial relationship between Nima Momeni and Bob Lee,” Brass stated to reporters after the listening to. “They’re in a car together. Those are not two men who have murderous rage between them.”
A buddy of Lee informed murder investigators that they had been hanging out and ingesting with Momeni’s sister the day earlier than the stabbing, prosecutors stated beforehand in courtroom paperwork. The buddy stated Momeni later questioned Lee about whether or not his sister was doing medicine or in any other case partaking in inappropriate behaviour, and Lee stated she had not.
But Saam Zangeneh, one in all Momeni’s attorneys, stated he requested these questions of Lee regarding the man whose condo that they had been ingesting at.
Zangeneh stated in courtroom he wanted to dispute the concept of an “honour killing” dedicated to guard a sister.
Prosecutors haven’t spelled out a motive, however beforehand provided a timeline in a case that has drawn outsize media consideration, partly as a consequence of Lee’s standing within the tech world. Lee created Cash App, a cellular cost service, and was the chief product officer of the cryptocurrency MobileCoin.
Momeni, who has been in jail since his arrest April 13, has pleaded not responsible. He faces 26 years to life if convicted. His arrest got here greater than every week after Lee, 43, was discovered bleeding within the early morning hours of April 4. He later died at a hospital.
On Monday, Assistant District Attorney Omid Talai formally launched proof for his case, together with images of a knife that prosecutors say Momeni used to stab Lee, a path of blood left by Lee as he staggered for assist, and video footage exhibiting the 2 males depart Momeni’s sister’s condominium constructing earlier than the stabbing.
Talai stated at a May listening to that the weapon was a part of a novel kitchen set belonging to Momeni’s sister and that evaluation confirmed Momeni’s DNA on the weapon’s deal with and Lee’s DNA on the bloody blade. Police recovered a knife with a 4-inch (10-centimetre) blade on the scene.
Zangeneh questioned why the rubber deal with of the knife was examined for less than DNA and never fingerprints. SFPD crime scene investigator Rosalyn Check stated that it’s troublesome to get prints off rubber.
“When you want to see if someone’s touching something, you do fingerprint analysis, right?” he stated to reporters. “And they weren’t done on the handle, which is the most important, relevant portion of who, if any, was handling that item.”
Surveillance video of Lee’s remaining evening reveals him coming into the luxury Millennium Tower downtown, the place Momeni’s sister lives along with her husband, a distinguished San Francisco plastic surgeon.
Video footage then reveals Lee and Momeni leaving the constructing collectively shortly after 2 a.m. and driving off in Momeni’s automotive. Lee was discovered shortly after 2:30 a.m. within the Rincon Hill neighbourhood of San Francisco, which has tech places of work and condominiums however little exercise within the early morning hours.
