A$AP Rocky decides not to take the stand at his felony assault trial

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A$AP Rocky will not take the stand at his trial over two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and the defense rested its case Tuesday without calling him to testify.

The 36-year-old hip-hop star said “Absolutely, your honor” when asked by Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold if he had discussed the issue with his lawyers, and said he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right to silence.

"I want my right to not testify," Rocky said.

He left the courthouse a few hours later, after jurors received instructions from the judge. Closing arguments at the three-week trial will be Thursday morning, and jurors could begin deliberating by that afternoon.

Rocky's attorney Joe Tacopina had said late Monday that either his client would take the stand Tuesday or the defense would rest its case, and an attorney for the prosecution said his team would prepare for Rocky's possible testimony.

Tacopina said before the trial that Rocky was “eager to tell his story. He would love the opportunity to do so," but subjecting a defendant to a difficult cross-examination is often a major gamble in criminal cases.

Rocky faces up to 24 years in prison if convicted, after turning down a pre-trial plea deal that could have led to just 180 days in jail.

He would most likely have faced a long and combative cross-examination from Deputy District Attorney John Lewin. In his most famous case, Lewin kept real estate heir Robert Durst on the stand for nine days of relentless questioning before he was convicted of murder.

The Grammy-nominated music star, fashion mogul and actor is the longtime partner of singing superstar Rihanna, with whom he has two toddler sons. She has shown up sporadically at the trial — most recently on Friday, when they left the courthouse together for the first time, walking arm-in-arm.

Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, would likely have testified that a gun he fired twice — in a scuffle with a former friend on a Hollywood street corner in 2021 — was a starter pistol that only fired blanks, and that he carried it for security.

The final trial witness who testified was Rocky's tour manager, who became the second member of the rapper's inner circle to testify that he carried the phony gun.