Live updates: Murder trial of Nima Momeni in death of Cash App founder Bob Lee begins
SAN FRANCISCO - The murder trial of a tech consultant in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee begins Monday in San Francisco, a year and a half after the entrepreneur was found staggering on a deserted downtown San Francisco street seeking help.
Prosecutors say Nima Momeni, 40, planned the April 4 attack after a dispute over his younger sister, Khazar, with whom Lee was friends. They say Momeni took a knife from his sister’s condo, drove Lee to a secluded area and stabbed him three times, then fled.
Defense lawyers disagree, and they say that Lee, high on drugs, attacked Momeni.
KTVU's Christien Kafton will be in San Francisco Superior Court beginning Monday and throughout the duration of the trial.
Follow along here for live updates from the courtroom.
October 14
11:45 a.m.
"What does the knife tell us? Well, there is something, ladies and gentlemen, called DNA and the DNA here tells us a whole hell of a lot," prosecutor Omid Talai said, adding that Lee's blood is on the knife blade.
"And what do you think we learned about who was holding that knife, whose DNA is on the handle of the Joseph Joseph kitchen knife that was used to kill Bob Lee?" Talai asked. "The defendant."
"We will ask you at the end of this trial to convict the defendant of murder," Talai said to the jury.
Prosecution ends opening statements. Court to reconvene at 1:30 p.m.
11:30 a.m.
The judge welcomed jurors back in, and told them that while she is wearing a medical mask, they do not have to if they don't want to.
"As the last mask-wearing judge in San Francisco Superior court, I reserve the right to change that as we track flu and Covid numbers."
11 a.m.
The defense objects repeatedly as the prosecutor reads a text exchange between Nima Momeni and his sister, Khazar Momeni.
"This text was sent between two people who had no idea that a jury would be reading them," defense attorney Sam Zangana said.
Prosecutors say Momeni was already trying to establish a story by saying to his sister that he dropped Bob Lee off at a strip club or bar.
Sister Khazar Momeni's text read "Nima, you're f--king psychotic sometimes."
10:30 a.m.
Opening statements
Lead prosecutor Omid Talai begins opening statements by telling the jurors that Lee was "stabbed through the heart and left to die."
Talai continued: "Ladies and gentlemen, you are seated in court with a murderer... a coward who stabbed a man three times."
The prosecutor says one of the upcoming witnesses came over to hang out with Lee the day before the killing and there was cocaine present as well as nitrous oxide.
Momeni then gets on the phone and asks what was happening with his sister. A witness overheard Momeni asking: "What about the girls getting naked?"
According to the prosecutor, Momeni thought something happened at the get-together and he was going to do something about it.
Lee went to the Millennium building to his sister's condo. They leave shortly before 2 a.m. A camera in the building hotel picks them up, and they are seen getting into Momeni's white BMW.
"But the defendant does not drive Bob home," Talai said. "He takes him here, on the 400 block of Main Street with the Bay Bridge overhead with no one and nothing around…Bob dies about a block from here."
Talai said that "all of a sudden," Momeni advances toward Lee, and then speeds home to the East Bay 14 minutes later.
When the police get to the scene, they see a trail of blood.
Police found the murder weapon, a Joseph Joseph knife, that prosecutors say defendant threw weapon over a Caltrans fence.
Talai said that prosecutors have text evidence showing Lee texted his sister, "Hey, we gotta talk."
10 a.m.
The jury has entered Department 28.
Jurors are finding their seats and preparing to be sworn in. The clerk is standing in front of them as they find their assigned seats.
9:30 a.m.
Judge has reconsidered cameras in court, says she has reconsidered and has reached same conclusion: no photography and no recording
The judge says at least one juror has raised concerns about safety post-trial
9 a.m.
Opening statements are set to begin Monday morning from the San Francisco courthouse. Momeni, who has pleaded not guilty, faces 26 years to life if convicted. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alexandra Gordon has told jurors the trial could last until mid-December.
Momeni, who lives in nearby Emeryville, California, has been in custody since his arrest days after Lee died at a San Francisco hospital. Momeni’s mother has been a steadfast presence at court hearings, and he is close to his sister.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.