Defense attorneys for alleged killer Nima Momeni will argue that Cash App founder Bob Lee showed a “flash of aggression” on the night Momeni stabbed him in 2023, forcing Momeni to “stand his ground,” according to documents obtained by Mission Local.
Momeni “acted in self-defense,” wrote defense attorneys in a trial brief, and “stood his ground after [Lee] attacked him with a weapon.”
The witnesses that the defense intends to call, continued attorney Saam Zangeneh, would support this claim. They said a forensic pathologist would opine about Lee’s drug use contributing to “erratic behavior.”
While it is unclear if any of this will stand up in court, the documents offered a window into the defense’s strategy.
Prosecutors have suggested that Momeni stabbed Lee out of anger regarding his sister, Khazar Momeni, who had been spending time with Lee at alleged drug dealer Jeremy Boivin’s house earlier in the day on April 3, 2023. In a filing last week, they claimed Nima Momeni believed his sister had been assaulted that day, and that Lee may have had some involvement, even though Lee was not present at that time.
Momeni’s lawyers, meanwhile, have maintained that he acted in self-defense against Lee, who was found bleeding in the street in the early hours of April 4, 2023.
“Lee had the knife in his hand during a struggle, and … his wounds were inflicted as a result of said struggle,” a use-of-force expert will testify according to the document, and all three of Lee’s stab wounds were the “result of the defendant acting in self-defense.”
It’s unclear if they have any footage or other evidence showing that Lee had the knife in his hands.
Lee and Momeni were seen on surveillance cameras leaving Khazar’s home at Millennium Tower together in Momeni’s white BMW. After stopping for some time near the Bay Bridge, Lee was seen walking away and bleeding in the street, while Momeni was seen driving away in his car.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alexandra Gordon today heard several motions from both sides in the case against Momeni, and ruled to exclude Lee’s nickname, “Crazy Bob,” and much of the evidence from his phones — both wins for the prosecutors.
She also rejected defense attorneys’ motion to exclude the alleged murder weapon, which matched those in the kitchen of Momeni’s sister.
Several other motions, however, Gordon heard in a closed courtroom, “so as not to taint any potential jury pool.”
History of drug use
Momeni’s attorneys have pointed to Lee’s nickname and drug use as part of their argument to suggest that Lee initiated the physical altercation that resulted in his stabbing.
Lee was on a “multi-day bender,” argued Zangeneh in court today, and had slept little and ingested “a lot” of party drugs.
In a lengthy filing last week, prosecutors prefaced that in the coming trial proceedings, they will bring forward video of Momeni mimicking stabbing motions in public after Lee’s killing, and asked to exclude mention of Lee’s past drug use and partying, including his nickname, “Crazy Bob,” which he used on his social media accounts and website.
“I think that his prolonged substance abuse and lack of sleep are material to establishing a state of mind,” Zangeneh said today. “People that are utilizing narcotics for long periods of time, the lack of sleep, are subject to making decisions that are normally outside of the realm of objective decisions.”
But Judge Gordon seemed doubtful of the argument, saying it was not relevant to the trial, for which jury selection could start as early as this week.
“While multiple points of evidence indicate that Mr. Lee did recreationally use narcotics, there is no evidence that these narcotics had ever caused Mr. Lee to be aggressive with those around him,” said a filing from prosecutors on Sept. 4.
Gordon deferred a decision on whether the drug use issue will be heard at trial before a jury. She ruled that Lee’s phone could only be used under limited circumstances, and that Lee’s nickname should not be spoken before a jury.
The murder weapon
The judge also denied defense attorneys’ motion to exclude mention of where the alleged murder weapon came from.
Prosecutors matched the Joseph Joseph brand knife to kitchen knives also found in the condos of Khazar Momeni and her husband, where Lee and Nima Momeni had been just minutes before the stabbing.
The same knife was found with Lee’s blood on it, and Momeni’s DNA on the handle.
Acts of aggression
In a filing earlier this month, prosecutors pointed to incriminating text messages between Momeni and his sister.
Those messages, defense attorneys argued in a response this week, were “taken out of context” and missing relevant parts.
“In the moments after Nima was forced to stand his ground, he called his sister to warns [sic] her not to let Bob or Jeremy in her house,” the document read. “Nima was concerned about his sisters [sic] safety due to Bob’s altered state, recent flash of aggression and statements made by Bob Lee at the scene.”
What exactly those acts of aggression were, however, is unclear.
Defense attorneys also disputed the prosecutors’ argument that Momeni resented Lee for inappropriate behavior with his sister. In the defense’s reply today, they pointed to previously undisclosed text messages between the two men.
“Nima thanks Bob Lee for his help with getting Khazar away from Jeremy Boivin’s house,” the filing reads. “He ends the message with the emoji that is used for ‘gratitude.’”
Consciousness of guilt
Prosecutors had also accused Momeni of acting suspicious and deflecting messages from his sister when she asked him about what happened after the two men left her home together in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023.
Momeni mentioned Lee possibly having attended a strip club, which prosecutors described as a false alibi. Although prosecutors said that Lee never attended a strip club that day, the suggestion was not unfounded; text messages between Lee and Momeni show Lee invited Momeni to the Gold Club, a strip club near Khazar Momeni’s home, that same day, defense attorneys wrote.
Self-defense could work. All defense counsel need to do is present evidence that:
Momeni immediately called 911 after the fight to get an ambulance to Lee
He immediately went to the police to tell the story of how he was attacked and had to defend himself
Medical reports showing Momeni’s injuries from being attacked
Lee’s fingerprints on the weapon he used to attack Momeni
Video footage of Lee attacking Momeni
His texts to his sister describing how he was attacked and was forced to fight back and he feels terrible.
Assuming the defense has evidence of all that, they have about a 50-50 chance at a defense verdict.
This aint Florida (where his new attorneys are from) and that excuse wont fly here.
Next………
Self defense with a knife and a gun are 2 diff things.