Fifth day of jury deliberations in Nima Momeni trial for Bob Lee's murder ends without a verdict
Jurors in the trial of Nima Momeni, who is accused of murdering Cash App founder Bob Lee in San Francisco, wrapped up their fifth day of deliberations Wednesday without reaching a verdict.
The jury is set to reconvene again to resume deliberations at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
Thursday is the "hardship date" that was set by the judge during jury selection. If a verdict has not been reached by the end of the day Thursday, any juror who wants to can opt out of the trial and end their participation as a juror.
If that happens and an alternate has to be chosen, deliberations will have to restart. And if there aren't enough alternates to fill the jury, then a mistrial will be called.
When asked about how long deliberations had gone on Wednesday, defense attorney Saam Zangeneh did not seem to think the time elapsed was an indicator of which way the jury was leaning.
"This is one of the longer deliberations that I've dealt with personally, but that doesn't mean anything you know?" he said. "Listen, they're doing their jobs. That's all I can say."
On Tuesday afternoon, the defense filed a motion for a mistrial, saying prosecution witness Borzu Mohabezzi had lied on the stand and accused the prosecution of knowing about it. The motion was quickly denied by the judge.
Mohabezzi described himself as a close friend of Lee's. During his testimony in October, he detailed what drugs they took as they partied with the defendant's sister the day before Lee was killed.
Jurors received the case last Wednesday, following 21 days of testimony that became contentious at times.
Momeni is accused of killing Lee in a remote part of San Francisco's East Cut neighborhood under the Bay Bridge on an early morning in April 2023. The prosecution argued Momeni stabbed the tech executive in anger over introducing his sister Khazar Momeni to an alleged drug dealer who fed her drugs and sexually assaulted her.
During the trial, Momeni's lawyers claimed their client acted in self-defense when Lee lunged at Momeni with a knife in hand while high on cocaine and ketamine. The defense said Lee became erratic and aggressive after Momeni made a "bad joke" about the tech executive wanting to go to a strip club instead of spending time with his family.
Momeni was charged with first-degree murder, which carries a sentence of 26-years-to-life in prison. Jurors are also considering second-degree murder and manslaughter in the case.
The judge instructed jurors that whatever verdict they reach must be unanimous.
