Jurors in Nima Momeni trial for Bob Lee's murder move into sixth day of deliberations
Jurors in the trial of Nima Momeni, the man charged with murdering Cash App founder Bob Lee in San Francisco, face a deadline as they resume discussion on the sixth day of deliberations since getting the case.
Dec. 12 is the "hardship date" that was set months ago by the judge during jury selection. If a verdict has not been reached by the end of the day Thursday, jurors will be able to opt out of the trial and end their participation on the jury.
If any jurors decide to leave the trial, an alternate has to be chosen and deliberations will have to restart. Additionally, if there aren't enough alternates to fill the jury, then a mistrial will be called.
The jury reconvened at the Hall of Justice and resumed deliberations at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
Momeni defense attorney Saam Zangeneh told CBS News Bay Area he was at the Hall of Justice Thursday morning to answer a question from the jury.
As of 11:30 a.m., jurors had already started their lunch with plans to return to deliberations shortly after 12 p.m., marking a significantly earlier and shorter lunch break than usual. They also decided to forego the usual scheduled morning break on Thursday as they work to reach a verdict.
Jurors have been instructed by the judge that they must be unanimous in whatever verdict they reach in the trial.
On Wednesday, Zangeneh was asked about how long deliberations had gone on so far. Zangeneh did not seem to think the length of deliberations was an indicator of which way the jury was leaning.
"This is one of the longer deliberations that I've dealt with personally, but that doesn't mean anything you know?" he said. "Listen, they're doing their jobs. That's all I can say."
Late in the deliberations Tuesday, the defense filed a motion for a mistrial, saying prosecution witness Borzu Mohabezzi had lied on the stand and accused the prosecution of knowing about it. The motion was quickly denied by the judge.
Mohabezzi described himself as a close friend of Lee's. During his testimony in October, he detailed what drugs they took as they partied with the defendant's sister the day before Lee was killed.
Jurors received the case just over a week ago on Dec. 4 following 21 days of testimony that became contentious at times when the defendant repeatedly sparred with the prosecution during cross-examination.
Momeni is accused of killing Lee in a remote part of San Francisco's East Cut neighborhood under the Bay Bridge on an early morning in April 2023. The prosecution argued Momeni stabbed the tech executive in a rage over him introducing Momeni's sister Khazar to an alleged drug dealer who fed her drugs and sexually assaulted her.
During the trial, Momeni's lawyers argued their client acted in self-defense when Lee lunged at Momeni with a knife in hand while high on ketamine and cocaine. The defense said Lee became erratic and aggressive after Momeni made a "bad joke" about the tech executive wanting to visit a strip club instead of spending time with his family.
Momeni was charged with first-degree murder, which carries a sentence of 26-years-to-life in prison. Jurors are also considering second-degree murder and manslaughter in the case.