Attorneys for accused murderer Nima Momeni this morning delayed his hearing to set a trial date, pushing back the highly anticipated court proceedings in tech executive Bob Lee’s killing.
Momeni, who is charged with stabbing Lee to death on a Rincon Hill street in April, appeared in his orange jail garb with his arms and ankles chained together.
His attorney implied that his client is eager to go to trial. Momeni will appear again for a trial setting date on Nov. 30.
On the night of the murder, Momeni, who has been in jail since his arrest on April 13, was accused of driving Lee to a quiet street, where he ultimately stabbed him three times and drove away. Lee walked away, bleeding out in the street.
The altercation is believed to center around Lee’s relationship with Momeni’s sister, though Momeni’s attorneys have disputed that claim.
“Well, anyone in his position is going to want to go to trial very quickly,” said attorney Tony Brass, the only of Momeni’s four attorneys who appeared in court on Wednesday with him. “But defendants are not attorneys. We have to sort this out via the process that we have — and things take time.”
Brass added that multiple issues and more discovery had come up, making it necessary to push back a trial. He noted that some property, which he refused to specify, was “improperly” turned over to the government, and that his team was seeking to retrieve it.
“We’re not, at this point, ready to set a trial date, but we should be by Nov. 30,” he said.
Momeni’s mother, who appears at all of his court hearings, stood to wave at him and make heart gestures with her hands, even moving around the courtroom trying to catch her son’s eye.
“Everyone loves their kid, their kids,” she said later in the hallway of the courthouse, by way of explanation.
Momeni’s Florida-based lead attorney Saam Zangeneh, who appeared remotely, also raised an issue with releasing Momeni’s white BMW, which was seized during the investigation of the killing. Although the District Attorney’s Office agreed to have the car released, with fees waived, Zangeneh said his team has been unable to get the car back to Momeni’s family.
“It was agreed upon in court,” Brass said. “But I get police legal that’s saying [the fees] cannot be waived that simply … I guess there’s some sort of limitation that they’re claiming.”
Brass said the fees, which had reached thousands of dollars now, posed a hardship to the family.
Tony Brass — I can’t imagine a more perfect dirty-job new york mafioso name. Sounds like Joey Bagodonuts :)) Perfect character for the job of defending this terrible person.
“Brass said the fees, which had reached thousands of dollars now, posed a hardship to the family.” — awww, hardship… perhaps NOT murdering a person in a crime of obnoxious passion would have been a better idea. Insane actions have consequences — and suffering fees is nowhere near suffering the grief that Bob Lee’s family and community were forced to endure by the murderer.
“Brass said the fees, which had reached thousands of dollars now, posed a hardship to the family.” One might think the hardship would be paying for legal fees. Curious if a wealthy doc is writing those checks. Oh, what a tangled web.
He’s had one brash attorney after another making all sorts of bellicose arguments in public. It seems like they’re finally assessing the evidence and realizing their client is toast.