The arraignment of Nima Momeni, the accused killer of tech executive Bob Lee, was delayed for a second time in a San Francisco courtroom on Tuesday, but Momeni’s lawyer, Paula Canny, told reporters after the hearing that when the arraignment does happen, her client will plead not guilty.
Canny said she believes that she has evidence to prove that Momeni is innocent, and that the surveillance video pointed to by the prosecution does not prove her client committed premeditated murder.
At the Hall of Justice, Canny, a criminal defense attorney based in Burlingame, told San Francisco Superior Court Judge Victor Hwang that she could not proceed with the arraignment because she had “issues with the discovery,” which she explained afterward meant she hadn’t received police reports, 911 calls and Lee’s autopsy and toxicology report.
“It’s not rocket science: If someone is going to get arrested, the defense needs the discovery,” Canny said to Hwang.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins later commented on the arraignment delay, alleging Canny was unprepared for today’s arraignment and the delay unfairly impacts Lee’s family, according to NBC News.
“Mr. Lee’s children were in court today, and imagine having to repeatedly come back to court all to have nothing happen,” Jenkins said.
Speaking in the court hallway to reporters, Canny said that she outlined the discovery items she needed in a letter to the District Attorney’s Office and gave the office a thumb drive to upload those items.
“I had my office pick it up, and then I went through it, and none of the discovery that I requested was on that thumb drive,” she said.
The District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the discovery.
FILE: Bob Lee, who created Cash App as chief technology officer at Square, was identified as the Mill Valley man who was killed in downtown San Francisco early April 4.
Screenshot via TwitterLee, who had recently moved from Mill Valley to Miami, was fatally stabbed in San Francisco’s Rincon Hill neighborhood early in the morning on Tuesday, April 4. Police were called to the scene at about 2:30 a.m. and found the Cash App founder with multiple stab wounds. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Momeni, a 38-year-old IT consultant, was arrested on April 13 and charged with murder with a special enhancement because a knife was reportedly used in the crime. The prosecution alleges that Momeni used a kitchen knife to stab Lee three times. Shortly before Lee’s death, the two men argued over the suspect’s sister, Khazar Elyassnia, with Momeni asking Lee whether Elyassnia was “doing drugs or anything inappropriate,” according to charging papers.
FILE: Khazar Elyassnia, left, stands in the Hall of Justice in San Francisco on Friday, April 14, 2023, ahead of an appearance by her brother, Nima Momeni, who has been charged with murder in the death of tech entrepreneur Bob Lee. Elyassnia’s husband, Dino Elyssania, is to her right.
Olga Rodriguez/APMomeni appeared in court wearing an orange jumpsuit and the only words he said were, “Yes, your honor,” when he was asked by the judge whether he was willing to give up his right to a speedy trial to allow for the arraignment delay.
The prosecution noted that 20 of Bob Lee’s friends and family members were in the courtroom. Momeni’s sister, who was in the courtroom during the first hearing, did not appear Tuesday.
When reporters asked Canny why Momeni’s sister didn’t come Tuesday, she said the media cameras during the first hearing “completely freaked her out.”
The arraignment was postponed to May 2, and Momeni will remain in jail without bail until then; Canny said she plans to contest this. The arraignment was delayed the first time because Canny was on vacation.
The media hammered Canny with personal questions about her client, including drug-use issues and the relationship between Lee and Momeni. “I’m not going to talk about that right now,” she repeatedly said.
When asked about what happened in the days leading up to the stabbing, she said, “I don’t really know what Bob Lee’s family knows about the couple of days leading up to this. And even though I’m a defense lawyer, I’m super sensitive to the fact that he has people who love him. Dude has two teenage children. I don’t want to do anything that hurts another person.”
