Joe Tacopina Feeling Confident A$AP Rocky Will Be Exonerated

TMZ

Joe Tacopina is ready to flex his legal muscles in court again ... telling us he's feeling good about getting A$AP Rocky off the hook in a criminal assault trial.

Transcript

00:00How are you feeling right now?

00:03You've presented your case, done your closing,

00:07you've heard what prosecutors had.

00:10You rejected a plea deal.

00:11How are you feeling?

00:12I feel great.

00:13I mean, look, this case went in perfectly for us.

00:16I mean, I believed in Rocky's innocence from day one.

00:18Rocky's maintained it by virtue of the fact

00:21that he's turned down a plea that would have been,

00:23they offered him like six months, you know,

00:27and he's facing obviously a lot more than that.

00:29I think shows you his resolve and his belief

00:33in his innocence and belief in the jury system.

00:36So, you know, this case,

00:38it should be a five minute acquittal.

00:40But again, you know, I've tried 120 jury trials,

00:43both as a prosecutor and defense attorney,

00:45and I will tell you, you can never, you know,

00:48despite what all pundits may think

00:49and people in the courtroom,

00:50you just never know what a jury's thinking.

00:52But I feel as good as can be,

00:53especially because of the way the summations ended.

00:56Let's talk about that summation.

00:57There was something in particular you said

01:00that did not sit well with the prosecutor.

01:02And we saw the big argument over this.

01:06You're referring to ASAP Relly as having perjured himself

01:11and that the prosecution accepted that.

01:15Joe, I've never seen someone, an attorney,

01:16take off his coat in court

01:19because it seemed like he was about to get into a fight.

01:21No, I took off my coat, Charles,

01:23because it was very hot in court.

01:24I didn't know this was gonna happen.

01:26I was just listening to, you know, this repeated,

01:29you know, I'll call it whining, if you will,

01:32by the prosecutor, which seemed to happen every day.

01:35So I took my coat off because it was getting hot,

01:36not because I was getting ready to have fisticuffs.

01:38That wouldn't have been a fair play.

01:40Look, I was just saying, you know,

01:41that they objected to the fact

01:42that we said they embraced perjury.

01:44It's different than saying you suborned perjury.

01:46Suborning perjury is when you put a witness forth

01:49that you know is committing perjury.

01:50You're suborning perjury.

01:52I didn't say they suborned perjury.

01:53I said they embraced it, and there's no way around that

01:55because their witness testified

01:57that the tape recordings I've had of him

02:00committing extortion were fake.

02:04So I had to call another witness in to then say,

02:06yes, those are real recordings.

02:08That's this Relly guy, and this is me,

02:10and I made the recording, and so they're not fake.

02:14So the prosecution then, you know, took those recordings

02:17and played them and accepted that they were Relly.

02:21So I said they had to embrace,

02:22but that was perjury on behalf of FaceApp Rally.

02:24There's no question about that,

02:25and he admitted perjury five or six or seven other times

02:28on the witness stand.

02:28Oh my God, you wouldn't think I said something so horrific,

02:31but that's a fact.

02:32That's just a fact.

02:33It's not anything, and you know,

02:35this one prosecutor in particular

02:37has sort of a history and a reputation,

02:40and he had another hissy fit to prove mildly.

02:44And just look, when I'm representing someone,

02:46Charles and Harvey, you guys have known me for a long time.

02:49I take it very personally.

02:50You know, I do.

02:51I treat them like family,

02:53and I don't let anything get by me.

02:56And if I think someone's playing below the belt

02:59or playing unfair, I'll do what I need to do

03:02to protect that person, that client,

03:04who at the moment I'm treating as family.

03:06Let's talk about something that,

03:09at least from what we were told by people in the courtroom,

03:13that did resonate with the jury,

03:14and that was Rihanna being in court

03:18several days during the trial,

03:19sitting there right behind Rocky,

03:21and certainly during closing,

03:24was there with the kids as well.

03:27And we heard the prosecutors, in their closing,

03:30really implore the jury to ignore

03:32the fact that Rihanna was there.

03:34This is, I mean, basically,

03:36it sounded like the prosecutor was saying,

03:37don't fall for this family picture

03:40that they're trying to paint here.

03:42Just deal with the facts of the case.

03:43But it was a family picture, right?

03:45Well, it's a family.

03:46I mean, it's not a family picture

03:47that they're trying to paint.

03:48It's a family.

03:49She's been there almost every day.

03:52She obviously loves him.

03:54They are a great couple.

03:55I've got, you know,

03:56obviously I've known Rock for a long time.

03:58I've known Rih for a long time.

04:00And seeing them together in a time like this,

04:02a time of need,

04:04is something very special to see them really,

04:06she's really there supporting him, like, in full force.

04:09And, you know, it's their family.

04:13So why would that be odd or unique?

04:17And to me, when he commented on that in his closing,

04:19it was just another sign of weakness to me.

04:21It was a sign that this is what they're worried about.

04:23Like, instead of the evidence,

04:25they're focused on, is Rihanna gonna sway the jury?

04:28I never mentioned Rihanna in this trial.

04:30You know, Rihanna was not part of our defense.

04:33You know, we have factual defenses, you know,

04:35and they seem to be obsessed with Rihanna

04:37and her being there.

04:38So I don't think this jury's gonna be swayed by Rihanna.

04:41It definitely helps though, Joe, right?

04:42I mean, you can admit it.

04:44It doesn't hurt.

04:45No, I don't think it hurts because-

04:46Okay, hold on.

04:47You said, who knows?

04:48I know.

04:50The answer is yes.

04:51I know.

04:53Look, you know, these are people,

04:54we don't know what jurors think.

04:55Like, you know, it's, there's,

04:57we have people from all different walks of life

04:59on that jury.

05:00So who knows what it means?

05:02If anything, I think at the end of the day,

05:04jurors are gonna look at the facts of the case.

05:05The cases you've handled, and you've handled so many,

05:09some of them, you know, you win some and you lose some

05:12within the same case,

05:13and it could still be viewed as a victory.

05:16With Rocky, everything's on the table, it seems.

05:20Either it's gonna be all or nothing.

05:23Either he gets convicted and it's gonna be super serious,

05:27or this guy gets exonerated.

05:29How long do you think it's gonna take?

05:31That is a question that basically asked me

05:33to read tea leaves, Harvey,

05:35and it's impossible to do it.

05:37So, you know, who knows what a jury's thinking?

05:40Who knows how long they're gonna be?

05:42Hopefully not long.

05:43Hopefully tomorrow we'll get a verdict.

05:46Because again, without this one individual

05:49who imploded on the witness stand,

05:50I've never seen a witness implode like that in my career.

05:54Think about what that's saying.

05:56You know, I've had some doozies.

05:57And so for that one witness to, you know,

06:02implode the way he did

06:03and have absolutely zero credibility when all's said and done

06:07and it's not just me saying that, you know,

06:09the judge was there and he witnessed this too.

06:12You know, for that to happen,

06:14there's nothing left in the case that a jury can say,

06:17okay, I'm convinced beyond a reasonable doubt.

06:19So it should be quick.

06:20But again, you never know.

06:21You just never know.

06:22And it could be one juror holding things up or two.

06:25So it should be a quick verdict, but who knows?

06:28And who knows which way it's gonna go?

06:29You just can't take anything for granted.

06:31We're a jury.

06:32You know, he's the face of Gucci.

06:33So I had a call with Gucci yesterday

06:34and they're like, well, when will the verdict be?

06:36I'm like, what?

06:37When will the verdict be, guys?

06:39You know, let me go ask the 12 jurors.

06:40I'll let you know.

06:42That's really interesting.

06:44That's really interesting.

06:45He's got a cologne coming out called Gucci Guilty.

06:47I'm like, are you guys kidding me?

06:49I swear to God, it's called Gucci Guilty.

06:52And I'm like, can you hold the campaign on this one

06:55for another week?

06:56And like, we've got to get it out for Valentine's Day.

06:58I'm like, I don't care.

07:00I am stunned.

07:02Are you serious?

07:03Seriously?

07:04I swear to God.

07:05They were gonna have a Gucci Guilty campaign?

07:08I've been going crazy with Gucci for the last year

07:10saying hold that stupid campaign

07:11or change the name to Gucci Not Guilty.

07:13I gotta ask you one more thing before we go.

07:15There was a moment during,

07:16and I don't know how it played with the jury

07:18and we talked about it like it didn't even seem relevant,

07:21but there was a moment where ASAP Rocky

07:25yelled out to ASAP 12y while he was on the stand.

07:29Don't answer.

07:30And he yelled out, don't answer.

07:32Don't tell, don't tell.

07:34They were asking ASAP 12y about a logo

07:38that was on Rocky's bed.

07:41And I've just heard the person who's on trial

07:46yelling to a witness, don't say.

07:49How did that play out?

07:51I almost broke Rocky's foot when that happened,

07:54just so you know.

07:55I heel kicked him so hard that he yelped.

07:58He yelped.

07:59That was the second time he heard it.

08:00He said, don't tell, and then he heard a yelp.

08:01The yelp was from my heel.

08:03And what it was, was he just reacted to something

08:05that was so personal to him.

08:07Look, he sat there and listened to this rally call him,

08:09all sorts of horrific names, okay?

08:11I mean, some really derogatory names.

08:14He heard witnesses say this, that, and that about him.

08:17He didn't say a word.

08:17He was so dignified throughout this whole trial,

08:19such a gentleman.

08:20The judge even commented on that.

08:22But when it got to something personal for him,

08:26which the witness didn't even know the answer to,

08:27by the way.

08:28The witness had answered before Rocky

08:30even had his little good moment and said, I don't know.

08:33It just means awk.

08:35But Rocky, that's something very personal,

08:37and he didn't want him and his family,

08:38and he didn't want that blurred out publicly

08:41for whatever reason.

08:43So that just happened.

08:44It was involuntary.

08:45Trust me.

08:46And of course, the prosecutor made a big deal

08:48of that on summation too.

08:49I mean, Jesus.

08:50So convict him because he blurred it out.

08:53He didn't want some personal information

08:55put out on the national television,

08:57and that Rihanna was in the courtroom.

08:59That's why you should convict him.

09:00We focused on the facts of the case,

09:02but that was a big, big deal for the prosecution.

09:04But it was just a moment.

09:05Of course, we wish it didn't happen.

09:07It was embarrassing, and I fronted with the jury.

09:10But still, it was a non, really a non-issue in the case.

09:14It was not, look, if someone had said,

09:16did Rocky tell you it wasn't a prop gun,

09:18and he yelled out, don't answer,

09:20that would have been a different problem.

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