A$AP Rocky has decided not to take the stand during his felony gun assault trial.
The 36-year-old rapper told the judge Tuesday he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right to silence before the defense rested its case.
“I want my right to not testify,” Rocky said.
While the prosecution may call a last rebuttal witness, closing arguments are set to begin on Thursday.
Rocky’s attorney had previously said his client was “eager to tell his story” and “would love the opportunity to do so,” but acknowledged that it was a gamble to leave Rocky open to cross-examination by prosecutors.
Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, likely would have testified that the gun he fired twice during a 2021 Hollywood scuffle with former friend A$AP Relli was a starter pistol that only fired blanks. His lawyers have claimed that he only carried the gun for security purposes.
Tour manager Lou Levin testified that Rocky got the phony firearm from a music video director, saying he and security told the rapper it made sense to carry the gun after Rocky’s house was broken into by a stalker.
“It’s just a nonlethal form of self-defense,” Levin said.
Prosecutors meanwhile allege the rapper fired a 9mm pistol at Relli, and two witnesses previously testified about the firearm’s capabilities.
The gun was never recovered by investigators. Levin said it had been returned to the music video’s co-director after the incident with Relli, but that the director no longer had it when Levin asked about it following Rocky’s arrest.
The hip-hop star turned down a pre-trial plea deal that would have resulted in only 180 days in jail. He now faces up to 24 years in prison if found guilty of two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.