Attorneys for Nima Momeni, accused of killing Cash App founder Bob Lee, today asked for a mistrial, arguing that the prosecution’s lead investigator revealed potentially prejudicial information to jurors that Momeni is being held in jail.
Today, SFPD Sgt. Brent Dittmer, the primary investigator in the case, who has been on the witness stand since late Tuesday morning, said that Momeni has never been out on bond — without being asked. Momeni’s attorneys said this information could taint the jury by revealing Momeni is behind bars, and asked a judge to throw out the case, to no avail.
Defense attorney Bradford Cohen: And at that time, he did not have bond, correct?
Dittmer: I don’t think he ever has, yes.
Cohen: Well, I’m asking at that time.
Dittmer: Yes.
Jurors are typically shielded from knowing whether a defendant is in jail, to preserve their presumption of the defendant’s innocence. Momeni has appeared throughout the trial without handcuffs or other restraints, and wears a suit each day.
“While [Dittmer]’s correct, he’s 100 percent correct … that’s an inappropriate statement to make,” said attorney Saam Zangeneh. “Now the jury knows that Mr. Momeni’s been in custody.”
After the prosecution rested its case, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alexandra Gordon released jurors early to hear the attorney’s arguments on the motion, and then denied the motion this afternoon. She also denied another motion for acquittal from Momeni’s attorneys. In that motion, his lawyers reasoned that a proper chain of custody was not established to connect Lee’s blood to his DNA on the kitchen knife and alleged murder weapon. For this reason, they reasoned that there was no proof that the knife was used in the murder.
Such motions are commonly made as prosecutors wrap up their case, but are often rejected by judges.
Gordon appeared baffled by the suggestion, and asked Zangeneh to explain why she would dismiss the case.
Zangeneh: Because, without DNA evidence on the blade, there’s nothing to support or suggest that that knife was used in an attack … it’s just a knife that Mr. Momeni handled …
Judge: Do you want to comment, Mr. Talai?
Prosecutor Omid Talai: Frankly, I don’t think that argument is worth commenting on.
Talai then proceeded to comment.
“So, let’s just pretend for a moment we don’t know what that red stuff is on the blade of the knife,” Talai said. “When a man dies yards away from this knife with red stuff on it, and their client’s DNA is on the handle, the video surveillance shows he was at the scene, fled the scene. I think there’s more than enough to give this case to the jury.”
Defense attorney Tony Brass, who has not spoken during the trial thus far, said before the judge that prosecutors have the burden of proof in making their case.
“What we have is an interaction between two men involving a knife under that bridge. But exactly what it was that happened, why it happened, what was in Mr. Momeni’s mind at the time?” said Brass. “There is no evidence to suggest that it was Mr. Momeni who was the initial attacker. There is no evidence to suggest or to negate that Bob Lee was not the aggressor in that.”
Judge Gordon appeared frustrated by the lost time this afternoon. She warned defense attorneys to be prepared to call their first witnesses tomorrow.
Defense attorneys have not confirmed whether Momeni will take the witness stand in his own defense, but Zangeneh said Momeni is eager to “tell his side of the story.”
and how much are the celebrity lawyers being paid?
no chain of custody with blood on the knife blade? His attorneys think jurors are total dolts. He ACTED guilty, doesn’t that count for something?
the defendant never called the cops to say, after it spashed in the news until 9 days later, and the clothes he wore are missing, tried to get rid of the get-away car, that doesn’t scream guilt?
All of that is called circumstantial evidence as opposed to direct, physical evidence. The threshold is beyond a reasonable doubt. They weigh all of those things against the possibility that they are coincidental or explainable matters of circumstance. Yes, acting guilty does count for something. The issue with the knife is that it was not tested for fingerprints which would have indicated, possibly, whether it was Lee who had it originally or Momeni. That’s a big point of contention in whether or not self-defense applies, or not. It would be nice to think that SFPD would have at least tested for prints on the presumed murder weapon, but here we are.