A$AP Rocky's Lawyer Joe Tacopina Nearly Had a Heart Attack Over Jury Polling

TMZ

A$AP Rocky's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, is riding high after the not guilty verdict -- though he did confess he was this close to a heart attack right before it was read.

Transcript

00:00So, two things, one, congratulations, and two, you look like you got no sleep.

00:06Wow, right off the bat, Harvey, to sit him with that.

00:09I mean, he's right, though.

00:10No, it's been a month of no sleep, a month of no sleep, and then last night was a little

00:14rough.

00:15I don't really think I'm in condition to be on television right now, but I'll give it

00:18a whirl.

00:19Joe, what were you thinking at that moment when Rocky first, there was a quick congratulatory

00:26hug, and then the crowd surfing, what were you thinking at that moment when he walked

00:32away from you and dove into the gallery there?

00:37Were you thinking the judge isn't going to like this, or good for him, or what was going

00:42through your mind?

00:43The judge loved him, so it wasn't even that.

00:46Here's what was going through my mind.

00:48When there's a verdict being read, I am laser focused on that clerk, because there were

00:51two counts in this case, and even though I was confident, I came on your show the day

00:55before the verdict, right?

00:56He said how confident I was, which a lot of people were like, oh my God, how can you be

00:59so confident?

01:00I was like, because I am.

01:02But there were two counts, and the jury could do anything, and so I wanted to hear a second

01:07not guilty before we started hugging.

01:08You don't notice I didn't move.

01:10I didn't see Rocky leave, so I'm laser focused.

01:12I turned to him, and he wasn't there, and I said to my partner, Chad, I go, did he leave?

01:19I look back, and I see him body surfing in the audience, like, I couldn't process this,

01:25guys.

01:26And then so finally, when both counts of not guilty were read, then it was just pure elation

01:30and joy, and then Rihanna gave me, he obviously, see Rocky there, gave me a massive hug.

01:36I couldn't breathe almost, I think, but right about then, I was like, I can't breathe.

01:39She gave me one of the strongest hugs I've ever had in my life, and you notice the suit

01:44I chose to wear, there was sort of a light colored beige suit.

01:47She gave me this massive hug, and then when she lifted her head off me, I noticed I had

01:52the whole Fenty collection.

01:54You know, I went from a pure elation of a not guilty verdict to this.

02:01That suit coat is probably worth a lot of money.

02:03That's right.

02:04You could 100%.

02:05Put it on eBay, dude.

02:06I was like, I just was like, a brand new suit, I was like, so I said, last night, I was like,

02:10I couldn't help myself.

02:11Rihanna, can I talk to you?

02:12So, you get a call that the jury's reached a verdict, and it was a little less than four

02:18hours.

02:19Three hours and five minutes.

02:20I'm sure Rihanna and ASAP asked you at some point, what does it mean?

02:25What do you say to them before the verdict?

02:27Yes, of course, they asked it, and I said what I felt.

02:30Look, I don't ever BS a client, especially when in a moment like this, when it's, you

02:35know, just the consequences are so dire.

02:38You know, I said, there's no way 12 jurors came together in three plus hours and found

02:43you guilty.

02:44There's no way.

02:45We're getting acquitted.

02:46This is going to be behind you.

02:47Now, that's what I believed.

02:49Of course, that being said, you just never know.

02:51You just never know.

02:53And the judge is something very unique here that almost did give me a heart attack.

02:56I think I've lost a couple of years of my life.

02:57When he polled the jury before the verdict?

02:59I've tried 120 jury trials, both as a prosecutor and defense attorney.

03:03You'd never poll a jury.

03:04I know.

03:05I felt the same way.

03:06You don't poll a jury on not guilty.

03:08He gets the verdict forms.

03:09First of all, you read the verdict first, then you poll the jury on a not guilty verdict.

03:13He gets the verdict forms.

03:14He looked angry.

03:15And I'm like, oh, my gosh.

03:18And I know he liked Rocky as a person, and he made it clear he liked Rocky as a person.

03:23He looked upset.

03:24He turns him down and he says, I want the jurors to be polled.

03:27I want them to all acknowledge openly that that is their verdict.

03:29I'm like, are you kidding me?

03:32I'm like, how did I get this wrong?

03:33There's no way those 12 jurors are convicted.

03:35There's no way.

03:37It's impossible.

03:38I told you guys that the night before.

03:39And I was just like, I can't believe this.

03:41For the first time, I started feeling lightheaded.

03:43So I looked over to our local counsel, Sarah Kaplan, who was there.

03:47And I said, Sarah, do they do this in California?

03:51She said, never.

03:52He goes, oh, shit.

03:53Literally, that's right.

03:54He said to me, I'm like, hang in, hang in.

03:56Let's see.

03:57But I really thought we had a problem.

03:59I really did.

04:00And then afterwards, I went to the judge.

04:01I said, hey, your honor, on the side, I said, what the F did you do that for?

04:06He's like, what did you do that for?

04:07Did I need that?

04:08What did he say?

04:09What did he say?

04:10I do that in every case.

04:11I go, you pull a jury on a not guilty in every case?

04:13You know, why?

04:14Because they just want to make sure it's their verdict.

04:16They're like, OK, well, you should have read the not guilty part first before you did that.

04:19Because you owe me a few years, I said, of my life on the back end.

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