By David Keyton
STOCKHOLM (AP) --A Swedish court on Wednesday found American rapper A$AP Rocky guilty of assault for his role in a June 30 street brawl in Stockholm that drew the close attention of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Though the 30-year-old rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, and his two bodyguards were found to have hit and kicked the victim during the brawl, the three defendants did not face the prospect of an immediate prison term and did not have to attend the verdict by the Stockholm District Court.
The court did sentence the three to "conditional sentences," which means they face no prison sentence in Sweden unless they commit a similar offense in the country again.
The three, who were released Aug. 2 pending the verdict and returned to the U.S., have been ordered to a pay a total of 12,500 kronor ($1,310) in compensation to the victim.
The artist had pleaded self-defense and said he had tried to avoid a confrontation with the two men who he claimed were persistently following his entourage. One of them picked a fight with one of Mayers' two bodyguards, the rapper told during the court proceedings.
The court said the defendants "were not in a situation where they were entitled to self-defense."
"In an overall assessment the court finds that the assault has not been of such a serious nature that a prison sentence must be chosen," the court said.
This sort of sentencing is in line with other cases in Sweden.
During the trial, prosecutors played video footage that showed the rapper throwing a young man to the ground.
Though the victim, 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari, was struck in the back of the head with a bottle, presiding judge Per Lennerbrant said it could "not be established by whom" and this inability "affected the assessment of the seriousness of the crime."
Slobodan Jovicic, Mayers' Swedish defense lawyer was "disappointed" by the verdict and said he had been looking for "a complete acquittal."
Mayers had told the court before his release that Jafari and his friend refused to go away despite several appeals, and claimed they appeared to be under the influence of drugs.
Testifying in court, Jafari said his memory of the events was confused because of the blows to his head during the brawl. He had told police earlier that he got angry as his headphones were broken during the initial argument with a bodyguard.
A full-scale brawl ensued shortly afterward and prosecutors allege that Mayers and his bodyguards — David Rispers, Jr. and Bladimir Corniel — beat and kicked Jafari while he was on the ground. They said Jafari was hit with parts of or a whole bottle.
Jafari claimed the rapper pushed him to the ground. The prosecution played video footage in court showing Mayers throwing a young man to the ground, and photos showed the alleged victim's cuts, bruises and blood-stained clothes.
The case drew the attention of American celebrities and Mayers' fellow recording artists, including Sean "Diddy" Combs and Justin Bieber. A social media campaign, #JusticeForRocky, has been pressing for his release.
The issue also became a topic of U.S.-Swedish diplomatic spat.
U.S. President Trump intervened on behalf of the rapper while he was jailed, and called Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, offering to personally guarantee his bail, but the Swedish leader said he couldn't interfere in a legal case. Trump later cheered the release of Mayers and his bodyguards.
Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More