Momeni legal team to argue self-defense in deadly San Francisco stabbing of tech exec Bob Lee
Lawyers for Nima Momeni -- the man accused of fatally stabbing tech executive Bob Lee in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023 -- are gearing up for his trial currently scheduled to start next week.
The attorneys plan to argue self defense in the case for their client. In new court documents, they say Momeni was "forced to stand his ground" after what they call a "flash of aggression" from Lee.
Self-defense argument
"In the moments after Nima was forced to stand his ground, he called his sister to warn her not to let Bob or Jeremy in her house," court documents filed by the defense on Tuesday say. "Nima was concerned about his sister's safety due to Bob's altered state, recent flash of aggression and statements made by Bob Lee at the scene."
"Jeremy" refers to Jeremy Boivin, a friend who allegedly provided Nima's sister Khazar Momeni with drugs. Prosecutors describe Boivin as "friend of both Lee and Momeni."
In an interview with CBS News Bay Area, defense attorney Saam Zangeneh explained there is evidence that they say will come out in trial that will show Nima Momeni did not believe Lee was mortally wounded.
"There's evidence, tangible evidence, that will show that Nima did not believe that Bob Lee was fatally injured. And if you look at the weapon itself, I mean the parent knife, the blade is really small, you know? And imagine, I mean the uncontroverted evidence. The video shows Bob Lee gingerly walking straight up Main Street on his phone," Zangeneh said. "If you go to fatally injure someone and they get on the phone, right? You don't see Nima chasing after him, not at all."
An "overprotective" brother
The prosecution has a different perspective. County prosecutors, led by Omid Talai, have described a scene that shows Momeni as an "overprotective" brother who was already aggravated by an incident hours earlier involving his sister, who had consumed the drug GHB, also known as a date rape drug, that were supplied by another man.
Drugs have figured prominently as more details have surfaced about the circumstances surrounding the deadly stabbing. According to the San Francisco medical examiner's report, Lee was found to have alcohol, cocaine and ketamine in his system when he died on the operating table at San Francisco General Hospital .
In the county's filing, prosecutors said Lee received a video call from Nima Momeni and proceeded to "aggressively question Mr. Lee over what had occurred at the Mission Street apartment. The Defendant interrogated Mr. Lee about drug use in the apartment, Khazar's conduct, and specifically about 'the girls getting naked' at Mr. Boivin's apartment."
The defense says they plan to "poke holes" in the prosecution's arguments.
"We're going to poke holes, and we're going to show holes. We're going to open the eyes to the jury of the mistakes that were made. That's what you do, because you have to do it," Zangeneh explained. "I think that...there's some snafus that were done in this case. I think there were certain things that they did that that were correct, and there are certain things that they did that were incorrect. And there's certain things they didn't do. And it's our job to educate the jury on all three aspects of that."
Witnesses for the defense
The prosecution has identified 34 witnesses they could call to the stand, including 21 members of SFPD and Khazar Momeni.
The defense said they may call Nima Momeni to the witness stand during his trial, but are not listing him as a witness.
"He wants to scream at the top of his lungs exactly what happened, so people can really understand the truth behind what happened on Main Street in the early mornings of April 4, has to tell the truth," Zangeneh said.
Nima Momeni has been held in San Francisco County Jail since his arrest in April 2023.
In the prosecution's filing from earlier this month, the prosecution says "the Defendant murdered Robert Lee by stabbing him three times with a kitchen knife, puncturing Mr. Lee's heart. Angered by supposed interactions between Mr. Lee and the Defendant's sister, Khazar Momeni, the Defendant drove Mr. Lee to a dark, secluded area underneath the Bay Bridge where the Defendant stabbed Mr. Lee twice in the chest and once in the hip."
That knife, prosecutors say, matches a set found in Khazar Momeni's apartment.
A concerned family member
But the defense team says their client's behavior in the hours leading up to the stabbing was in line with any concerned family member.
"You have any family member, a father, a mother, a brother, a sister that has concern for their sister in terms of drug consumption and whether or not a drug dealer should be selling drugs to his sister, and then they use that as some sort of springboard to say, 'He's so overbearing. He's so protective.' It's something that I think is a stretch," Momeni attorney Bradford Cohen said. "I think they're looking for some sort of motive, even though they don't have to prove motive. I think they're desperate to find some motive, and I think that's what they're going to try and use as motive."
A reenactment of the alleged stabbing was also caught on camera, according to the prosecution. During surveillance conducted by county detectives in the days after Momeni's arrest, he was filmed making stabbing gestures in the parking lot of his former attorney's office in Burlingame.
The prosecution declined to speak to CBS News Bay Area before the trial, but in their filing they describe the video saying "the Defendant makes three stabbing gestures with his hand-two to the chest of Mr. Hedley and one to the side, and then makes an overhand throwing gesture. These three stabbing motions directly correspond to the three distinct stab wounds suffered by Mr. Lee. The overhand throwing gesture also corresponds to the throwing motion made by the Defendant on camera footage near the Caltrans fence on the night of Mr. Lee's death."
Attorney-client privilege
But the defense is seeking to get this video dismissed citing it was a confidential conversation that was held under attorney-client privilege.
"There has to be a province of attorney-client privilege. And even if they didn't know it at the time that they were conducting their surveillance, they know now. And so the fact that they're attempting to kind of circumvent that substantial privilege that a person has when they believe that they're speaking and having a meeting, under the safe umbrella of attorney-client privilege that they're attempting to pierce it," Zangeneh said. "So obviously, that's someone's consent. That's someone's right. You know, you have a right to have confidentiality and confidential communications with your legal team, and that's what we're trying to protect."
The defense team is seeking an acquittal and a non guilty verdict in this case, something they say has been asked for by their client. They do not plan to seek a lesser charge of manslaughter. Momeni entered a not guilty plea last November.
"That's what we believe that the evidence suggests, ultimately, that's a decision that a jury makes right. They have options. They can find them guilty as charged. They can find him guilty of lessers, or they can find him not guilty. We are not going to be asking for a lesser included," Zangeneh said. "So, I mean they could still do whatever they want, it's in the province of the jury, you know, by, we're not asking for a reduced charge."
County prosecutors say Momeni is facing 26 years to life in prison if convicted. Pre-trial hearings in the case begin Wednesday, with jury selection expected to begin next week.