Tech government’s alleged assassin to plead not responsible in case that has transfixed San Francisco

Suspect Nima Momeni’s arraignment in San Francisco state court docket was postponed Tuesday, however his lawyer, Paula Canny, advised reporters on the courthouse that digital camera footage cited by prosecutors as proof doesn’t assist a premeditated homicide cost. 

“I don’t assume you’ll be able to see something within the movies,” she mentioned.

San Francisco District Lawyer Brooke Jenkins has urged the court docket to not grant bail and launch Momeni, arguing the April 4 slaying was “deliberate and deliberate.”

Lee, 43, who was chief product officer at cryptocurrency startup MobileCoin and created Money App, was revered within the tech world for his coding skills. Prosecutors say he was stabbed with a kitchen knife on a downtown San Francisco avenue following an evening of socializing with mates, together with Momeni’s sister.

Momeni made his second court docket look Tuesday and his arraignment was delayed, once more, till Might 2. Canny mentioned she’s ready to obtain an post-mortem report from town health worker’s workplace. Jenkins mentioned at a information convention that it might take weeks for the report back to be accomplished. 

Canny advised Bloombeg Information she would oppose the district lawyer’s effort to maintain her consumer, a 38-year-old IT advisor, locked up till his trial.

In a court docket submitting to assist conserving Momeni in custody, prosecutors cited surveillance footage that confirmed the lads leaving in Momeni’s automotive collectively from his sister’s residence constructing and driving to a “darkish and secluded space.” 

A shade video section cited within the submitting then reveals two males standing on a sidewalk for about 5 minutes — with the digital camera too distant to establish their faces — earlier than one all of the sudden strikes towards the opposite. The lads then separate, one strolling away injured and the opposite shifting alongside a fence line the place the knife was later recovered, in response to the submitting, which describes Momeni’s BMW rushing away from the scene.

Jenkins advised reporters Tuesday that DNA proof from the bloody knife has been turned over to Canny. She declined to elaborate.

The district lawyer mentioned she thinks Canny has seen sufficient proof for Momeni to enter a plea. Jenkins expressed disappointment that the arraignment was delayed, particularly after a lot of Lee’s members of the family confirmed up for Tuesday’s listening to.