A$AP Rocky dove into the arms of Rihanna Tuesday as a clerk read the not guilty verdict at his trial on two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
The Los Angeles courtroom, full of fans of the hip-hop performer and his singing superstar partner, exploded into screaming glee as Rocky leapt from the defense table into the gallery, where Rihanna sat between his mother and sister. They embraced and sobbed.
After a three-week trial, the jury deliberated for just three hours to reach the verdict that spared Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, a prison sentence that could have run more than two decades.
“Thank y’all for saving my life,” he told the jurors as they left.
Amid the chaos, it took the clerk a while to read the second not guilty verdict, though it was very unlikely the jury would split on the counts.
“Mr. Mayers, you’re excused,” Judge Mark Arnold said.
On the eve of trial, Rocky turned down a prosecution offer of just six months in jail, along with probation and other conditions, if he would plead guilty to one count.
Insisting on his innocence, Rocky decided to gamble that a jury would feel the same. It paid off. The jurors felt at least that there was reasonable doubt of his guilt.
Rihanna hugged the defense lawyers, as did Rocky. She attended the trial sporadically and brought the couple’s two sons — 2-year-old RZA Athelston Mayers and 1-year-old Riot Rose Mayers — for some of the closing arguments.
The couple had to fight through a crush of photographers, reporters, YouTubers and fans to get into a waiting SUV outside the courthouse after the verdict.
“This whole experience has been crazy for the past 4 years,’ Rocky said amid the mob scene. ”I’m thankful and it’s blessed to be here right now to be a free man talking to y’all.”
District Attorney Nathan Hochman said he respected the jury’s decision.
On Tuesday afternoon, the rapper and Rihanna were left emotional after a jury returned the verdict after deliberating for just three hours.
In a short statement released on her Instagram, the “Umbrella” singer wrote: “The glory belongs to God and God alone! Thankful, humbled by his mercy.”
