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.
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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.