Defendant Nima Momeni becomes combative

On the witness stand during the contentious second day of her own murder trial, Nima Momeni struggled or refused to give much detail about her April 2023 stabbing death. Cash App to explain founder Bob Lee’s behavior in the days after the murder.

Instead, Momeni became argumentative during cross-examination by prosecutor Omid Talai, who attempted to cast doubt on Momeni’s claim that he acted in self-defense.

On Wednesday, Momeni presented jurors with his account of what happened in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023, when Lee lay bleeding on the street with three stab wounds. Momeni said Lee pulled a knife on him made a “bad joke” He plans to spend more time with his family instead of going to strip clubs. Lee’s reaction forced Momeni to defend himself.

Momeni said he was unaware Lee was injured and did not learn of his death until the next day.

Throughout today’s testimony, Talai and Momeni were at each other’s toes, and at times Momeni became emotional and wiped away her tears. The argument led Momeni’s lawyer, Saam Zangeneh, to silence his client at one point in the courtroom. Zangeneh nodded multiple times and said “yes”, clearly angry at his client who was avoiding questions. Momeni paid him no attention.

Later, during questioning, Zangeneh blamed Talai for the tension and suggested that it was due to the prosecutor’s inaccurate portrayal of Momeni to the jury.

“Is this…a window into why you and Mr. Talai are so conflicted?” Zangeneh asked this afternoon. “Yes,” said Momeni.

Talai, who spoke in a disbelieving tone throughout the day, questioned Momeni’s claim that he had no animosity towards Lee or that he was unaware of Lee’s injuries or death until he read news headlines about it.

“Do you agree that it doesn’t make sense for a person who is not angry and having a good time to pick up a knife without a sheath and put it in his pocket?” Talai asked, referring to Momeni’s claim that Lee pulled a knife from his pocket.

Momeni replied: “People do crazy things when they’re high.”

Momeni said he was saddened and surprised to learn of Lee’s death, and “even sadder” when he learned he was involved.

Talay: So after your argument with Bob, you thought it was possible and even plausible that someone else on Main Street would jump out of the bushes and stab him to death.

Momeni: There were homeless people on the street.

Talay: This – do you think this is possible? Did you think this was possible?

Momeni: You said he might have had more than one knife… There were homeless people on the street. I don’t know what you’re doing. Right next door was the homeless camp.

Talay: So the night you were with him, you thought a homeless guy stabbed Bob on the same block of Main Street. Did you think this was possible?

Momeni: … I was only thinking of the impossible, and that was his death as a result of a fight. He walked away just fine.

Text messages with Hazar Momeni

Talai also showed the jury text messages that showed Momeni was dodging messages from her sister Hazar, who is at the center of the prosecution’s case. Prosecutors said Momeni was angry with Lee over an “inappropriate” incident she believed had happened between Lee and her sister.

After Lee was stabbed, Momeni sent a message to her sister, telling her to lock her doors and not let Lee in. Momeni stated on the stand today that he was in shock, that he spoke to Khazar on the phone and verbally told him that Lee had attacked him.

Hazar, who testified for four days earlier this month, did not say he was aware of any attack.

Lee and Momeni left Khazar’s home together around 2 a.m. on April 4, 2023, and the stabbing occurred around 2:30 a.m. as the two men stood on Main Street under the Bay Bridge. Text messages show Khazar, who is Lee’s friend, then asked Momeni what she knew about Lee’s night. Momeni did not respond to her sister, whom she said she ignored because she was on drugs.

When Khazar wrote to her brother that she would “show no mercy” if she found out someone had hurt Lee, Momeni said she didn’t respond to the message because she didn’t know what he was talking about.

And when Khazar said he would “get to the bottom of” the case and “find out” what happened to his friend Lee, and asked Momeni where he had dropped off Lee that morning, Momeni again did not respond. Instead he texted her about suing her sexual assault allegation.

“Then why didn’t you text me and say, ‘I told you, Bob attacked me last night, he was crazy,'” Talai asked. “Instead you ignore it.”

“I’m sorry if my communication style did not meet your expectations,” Momeni replied.

Alleged attack

Talai attempted to uncover details of Lee’s alleged aggression over Momeni’s “joke” but Momeni provided few details.

When asked what Lee said that night, Momeni gave some phrases that Lee had used, such as the “fuck Momeni” threat, but said he did not remember the details.

Talai asked how close the two men were standing to each other, and Momeni told Talai he wasn’t sure and to check the surveillance video. Talai attempted to question Momeni about when Lee allegedly pulled the knife after Momeni’s alleged prank.

After avoiding the question for a while, Momeni took a minute guess. Questioned further by Talai about whether he was sure of the prediction, Momeni said he did not remember.

When Momeni and Talai got into a heated argument, which often ended with Zangeneh objecting or the judge intervening, Momeni’s mother, who had been carefully watching each hearing, would momentarily leave the courtroom.

Part of Talai’s strategy appeared to be to show jurors a more aggressive side to Momeni, who appeared soft-spoken and polite on Wednesday. Talai asked about Momeni’s “up and down” emotions, whether she had made “bad decisions” during an argument, and said Momeni’s sister could allegedly be “very, very, very angry.” was sexually assaulted.

Talai tried to connect Momeni’s reserved reactions on the witness stand to how he might have acted before the stabbing.

Talay: Even though you are the witness being cross-examined today, you asked me a question in one minute. Is it a coincidence that you like to ask questions?

Momeni: Isn’t it?

(Zangeneh objects and the judge rejects the objection.)

Talay: You just asked me another question… You want answers from me just like you want answers from everyone else. What happened to Jeremy’s Boivin’?really?

Momeni: This is true.

Momeni and her sister, who are at the center of the case, did not speak for several days after the stabbing. Momeni said this was because she was addicted to drugs and continued to spend time with Jeremy Boivin, who she claimed sexually assaulted her the evening before Lee’s death.

Talai questioned this and implied that Momeni abandoned her sister, to whom she was close, during a difficult time.

“You, this loving sister and Hazar’s best friend, don’t text her for two days because you feel bad for this awful person who raped you?” Talai asked. “Is that your expression?”

Momeni said her sister was growing up and she couldn’t control everything she did.

Momeni’s defense

Defense attorney Zangeneh responded by guiding Momeni through explanations of the questions Talai asked.

The jacket Momeni wore on the night of the murder was never found, but investigators never wanted it. Investigators also never asked about the white BMW in which Momeni put Lee into, Momeni said.

Talai suggested that the days after Lee’s death were the only time in months that Momeni and Khazar went without texting for more than a full day. Zangeneh showed jurors many examples to the contrary.

And Zangeneh suggested that Momeni was not being flippant about her sister’s sexual assault, but was instead angry at her sister for being insensitive.

Momeni said he was working to have his own father arrested. allegation of sexual assault Hazar when he was young in Iran. He testified that he booked and paid for a trip to meet his father in Turkey with the intention of having him removed from Iran and arrested. Momeni appeared to outline this plan in a March 2023 text message to her sister.

Zengene: It’s not true that he said he didn’t care about his sister being raped.

Momeni: Absolutely not.

When Zangeneh asked Momeni about her plan to have her own father arrested, Momeni became very quiet and wiped the tears from her eyes.

Jurors had many questions for Momeni to be asked by the judge in court Monday.

Update: In a previous version of this article, Momeni stated that Lee may have had more than one knife. This article has been updated to reflect Momeni’s statement that Talai mentioned this possibility.

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