A man charged with murder in the killing of Cash App founder Bob Lee will stand trial in the case, a judge decided Tuesday, after the judge said evidence suggests the suspect used a knife to kill Lee.
Judge Harry Dorfman made the ruling following a day and a half of testimony in a preliminary hearing for Nima Momeni, a tech consultant accused of stabbing Lee, 43, in San Francisco’s Rincon Hill neighborhood in the predawn hours of April 4.
Momeni, who pleaded not guilty in May, is scheduled to appear in court again on August 15. Authorities have said the two men knew each other and were in a car together the night of the killing.
The defense argued for a lesser manslaughter charge, saying the government’s evidence didn’t indicate the crime was premeditated. Instead, Momeni’s attorney Saam Zangeneh argued that surveillance video shows the two men seemed “amicable” as they left an apartment building, got into a car and then parked along a street for nearly 20 minutes.
“That could only result in a sudden, heat-of-passion quarrel and not a malicious, premeditated murder,” Zangeneh said.
Prosecutors called a DNA expert with the San Francisco police who said the DNA recovered from a knife discarded near the crime scene is almost certainly Momeni’s.
“There is limited support to the proposition that Mr. Momeni is not a contributor” to the DNA on the blade, the expert, Alain Oyafuso, testified.
The defense countered that the evidence can’t support how or when the DNA got onto the knife, and that the knife itself is one commonly found at popular retailers. Police say the knife came from the apartment of Momeni’s sister.
Dorfman cited the DNA evidence when deciding the case should go to trial.
“The evidence as I see it is very strong, because Mr. Momeni’s DNA is on that knife and Mr. Lee’s blood is on that knife,” Dorfman said.
Evidence from the preliminary hearing will be sealed at the request of both the prosecution and Momeni’s defense team. Prosecutors claimed the evidence could contaminate a potential juror pool, and Momeni’s attorneys said images of Lee’s autopsy would be unnecessarily disturbing to his family.
Defense: Suspect didn’t argue with victim the night of the stabbing
On Monday, the first day of the hearing, defense attorneys said Momeni did not have a dispute with Lee the night of Lee’s death, offering a glimpse into their strategy.
The San Francisco district attorney’s office previously released text messages that suggest the two men had an argument the night of the killing.
On Monday, Momeni’s attorneys argued their client was upset with a different man, who police said was having an affair with Momeni’s sister. This man also lived in an apartment that hosted one of two parties Lee attended the night he died.
“Now you’re starting to get a different picture,” said Momeni’s attorney Bradford Cohen after Monday’s proceedings. “It wasn’t that our client had any kind of argument with Bob Lee. The argument was really with (another man) … and the fact we’re bringing that out today is beneficial towards a future motion or the future trial.”
On Monday, prosecutors played surveillance video in court that they allege links Momeni to Lee’s killing.
The footage shows Lee getting into a white BMW, which prosecutors say Momeni was driving. That car was captured on several other surveillance cameras, including near the location where Lee later collapsed from stab wounds to the heart and lungs.
Prosecutor Omid Talai on Monday alleged the white BMW left the scene via the Bay Bridge, heading in the direction of Momeni’s home in Emeryville – a city just north of Oakland. San Francisco police Officer Milad Rashidian took the witness stand and identified Momeni as the resident of the home.
Cohen, Momeni’s attorney, argued on Monday the videos are grainy and don’t create an absolute depiction of the events of that night.
“You really can’t make out what’s going on, you zoomed in as much as you could, right?” Cohen asked Rashidian, who agreed.
Cohen continued, “When you zoomed in on this, it doesn’t enhance it whatsoever, correct?… Some of the videos are limited in time and scope.”
“Correct,” Rashidian said.
Also Monday, police crime scene investigator Rosalyn Check testified that a blood trail leading from near where a knife was found matched the direction Lee was seen walking on video as he struggled to find help.
“(The blood) appeared to be getting heavier and more dense” as the trail continued, Check testified. She added that blood evidence was taken from a call box and a tile entryway of a building where Lee tried to get help.
Prosecutors claim the 4-inch kitchen knife was thrown into a fenced-in lot near the crime scene, where it was later recovered.
The defense questioned the responding officers about potential disturbances of the crime scene before police arrived and while officers collected evidence.
Defense attorney Tony Brass told reporters outside the courtroom Monday: “What we’re doing right now is setting the scene for what kind of police work was done and what the limits of that police work are.”
