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Tech consultant goes on trial in death of Cash App founder Bob Lee

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Tech consultant goes on trial in death of Cash App founder Bob Lee
News

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Tech consultant goes on trial in death of Cash App founder Bob Lee

2024-10-15 07:57 Last Updated At:08:00

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The tech consultant charged in Cash App founder Bob Lee's stabbing death had no motive to kill him and in fact was forced to defend himself against Lee, who had become aggressive while on a multiday drug bender, lawyers for Nima Momeni said in opening statements Monday.

Prosecutors say Momeni, 40, planned the April 4, 2023, attack after a dispute over his younger sister, Khazar, with whom Lee was friends. They say Momeni took a knife from a unique set in his sister’s condo, drove Lee to a secluded area and stabbed him three times, then fled.

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Attorney Saam Zangeneh walks past members of the media in the hallway outside Department 28 at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the trial of Nima Momeni, on the first day of the trial of Nima Momeni, a tech consultant charged in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in San Francisco. Momeni has pleaded not guilty. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Attorney Saam Zangeneh walks past members of the media in the hallway outside Department 28 at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the trial of Nima Momeni, on the first day of the trial of Nima Momeni, a tech consultant charged in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in San Francisco. Momeni has pleaded not guilty. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Attorney Tony Brass leaves Department 28 at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the trial of Nima Momeni, a tech consultant charged in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Attorney Tony Brass leaves Department 28 at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the trial of Nima Momeni, a tech consultant charged in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Tim Oliver Lee, right, brother of Cash App founder Bob Lee; Rick Lee, center, father of Bob Lee, Krista Lee, and other family members leave Department 28 at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the murder trial of Nima Momeni, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in San Francisco,. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Tim Oliver Lee, right, brother of Cash App founder Bob Lee; Rick Lee, center, father of Bob Lee, Krista Lee, and other family members leave Department 28 at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the murder trial of Nima Momeni, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in San Francisco,. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Tim Oliver Lee, left, brother of Cash App founder Bob Lee, Rick Lee, second left, father of Bob Lee; Krista Lee, fourth left, ex-wife of Bob Lee, and other family members of Bob Lee walk to Department 28 to enter the courtroom at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the murder trial of Nima Momeni, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Tim Oliver Lee, left, brother of Cash App founder Bob Lee, Rick Lee, second left, father of Bob Lee; Krista Lee, fourth left, ex-wife of Bob Lee, and other family members of Bob Lee walk to Department 28 to enter the courtroom at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the murder trial of Nima Momeni, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

FILE - Flowers sit at a tree in front of the building where a technology executive was fatally stabbed outside of in San Francisco, April 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE - Flowers sit at a tree in front of the building where a technology executive was fatally stabbed outside of in San Francisco, April 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE - Nima Momeni, the man charged in the fatal stabbing of Cash App founder Bob Lee, makes his way into the courtroom for his arraignment in San Francisco, May 2, 2023. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, Pool, File)

FILE - Nima Momeni, the man charged in the fatal stabbing of Cash App founder Bob Lee, makes his way into the courtroom for his arraignment in San Francisco, May 2, 2023. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, Pool, File)

“Stabbed through his heart and left to die,” said Omid Talai, assistant district attorney, “our victim was stabbed repeatedly, once in his chest, once in his hip and literally one puncturing his heart.”

Lee’s death at age 43 — after staggering on a deserted downtown San Francisco street seeking help — stunned the tech community, and fellow executives and engineers penned tributes to the charismatic entrepreneur's generosity and brilliance. Lee was chief product officer of cryptocurrency platform MobileCoin when he died. He was a father to two children.

Judge Alexandra Gordon has told jurors the long-awaited trial that began Monday in San Francisco Superior Court is expected to last two months. Momeni, who lives in nearby Emeryville, California, has been in custody since his arrest days after Lee died at a San Francisco hospital.

Momeni has pleaded not guilty. He faces 26 years to life in prison if convicted.

Lawyer Saam Zangeneh told jurors that defense attorneys will show that Momeni bore Lee no ill will and that wound patterns show that Momeni was forced to defend himself after Lee pulled a knife out of his pocket, high on drugs and having slept only six hours over a four-day period of doing cocaine and drinking.

“We feel that once we present this case ... and once we fill in the gaps, the only viable verdict in this case is a verdict of not guilty,” Zangeneh said. “Somebody’s dead. Nobody likes that, but you have the right to defend yourself.”

Momeni, seen at previous court hearings in orange jail clothing, was seated Monday with his lawyers, wearing a dark suit. His mother, who has been a steadfast presence at hearings, was in the courtroom.

On the other side of the courtroom sat members of Lee’s family, including his ex-wife, father and brother. Lee's brother put an arm around his father when the 911 call Lee made was replayed in court.

In it, Lee is heard repeatedly asking for help, unable to answer the dispatcher's questions about where he was and what his name was. He said he had been stabbed.

Talai, the assistant district attorney, said jurors will hear from a friend of Lee’s, who was with him and Momeni’s sister the day before Lee was stabbed.

The friend will testify that Momeni angrily grilled Lee on the phone that night over his sister, drugs and “girls getting naked,” acting like “an overprotective, wannabe tough guy” while Lee was being mellow and happy, Talai said.

Zangeneh said he will show that the friend is not a reliable witness and that Momeni and Lee had traded friendly texts that night. Lee likely invited Momeni to join him at a strip club, Zangeneh said.

Surveillance video of Lee’s final night shows him entering the posh Millennium Tower downtown, where Momeni’s sister lives with her husband, a prominent San Francisco plastic surgeon.

Video shows Lee and Momeni leaving the building after 2 a.m. and driving off together in Momeni’s car.

Other video will show the two men getting out of the car in a isolated spot by the Bay Bridge, and then Momeni stabbing Lee three times, tossing the knife from his sister’s kitchen set and quickly driving away, Talai said.

Talai said the prosecution will share text messages in which Momeni, the following morning, tells his sister he did not know what happened to Lee that night but that he was preparing a rape case against him, thinking Lee had assaulted Khazar.

The attorney said video recorded by a San Francisco police detective trailing Momeni before his arrest shows him reenacting the three stabbing motions outside his previous lawyer’s office, but no reenactment of a struggle over the knife that Momeni's attorneys say Lee wielded first.

Police recovered a knife with a 4-inch (10-centimeter) blade in the secluded area where Lee was stabbed. Prosecutors said tests showed Momeni’s DNA on the weapon’s handle and Lee’s DNA on the bloody blade.

Zangeneh said Monday that police should have tested the handle for fingerprints, namely Lee’s. He scoffed at the idea of Momeni bringing what was essentially a "paring” knife from his sister's kitchen to kill Lee, and said that Momeni did not realize Lee was hurt, much less fatally wounded.

He said his client is eager to tell his side of the story, but they haven’t decided whether Momeni will testify in his defense.

Family members for Momeni and Lee declined to comment Monday.

Attorney Saam Zangeneh walks past members of the media in the hallway outside Department 28 at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the trial of Nima Momeni, on the first day of the trial of Nima Momeni, a tech consultant charged in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in San Francisco. Momeni has pleaded not guilty. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Attorney Saam Zangeneh walks past members of the media in the hallway outside Department 28 at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the trial of Nima Momeni, on the first day of the trial of Nima Momeni, a tech consultant charged in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in San Francisco. Momeni has pleaded not guilty. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Attorney Tony Brass leaves Department 28 at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the trial of Nima Momeni, a tech consultant charged in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Attorney Tony Brass leaves Department 28 at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the trial of Nima Momeni, a tech consultant charged in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Tim Oliver Lee, right, brother of Cash App founder Bob Lee; Rick Lee, center, father of Bob Lee, Krista Lee, and other family members leave Department 28 at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the murder trial of Nima Momeni, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in San Francisco,. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Tim Oliver Lee, right, brother of Cash App founder Bob Lee; Rick Lee, center, father of Bob Lee, Krista Lee, and other family members leave Department 28 at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the murder trial of Nima Momeni, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in San Francisco,. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Tim Oliver Lee, left, brother of Cash App founder Bob Lee, Rick Lee, second left, father of Bob Lee; Krista Lee, fourth left, ex-wife of Bob Lee, and other family members of Bob Lee walk to Department 28 to enter the courtroom at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the murder trial of Nima Momeni, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Tim Oliver Lee, left, brother of Cash App founder Bob Lee, Rick Lee, second left, father of Bob Lee; Krista Lee, fourth left, ex-wife of Bob Lee, and other family members of Bob Lee walk to Department 28 to enter the courtroom at the Hall of Justice on the first day of the murder trial of Nima Momeni, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

FILE - Flowers sit at a tree in front of the building where a technology executive was fatally stabbed outside of in San Francisco, April 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE - Flowers sit at a tree in front of the building where a technology executive was fatally stabbed outside of in San Francisco, April 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE - Nima Momeni, the man charged in the fatal stabbing of Cash App founder Bob Lee, makes his way into the courtroom for his arraignment in San Francisco, May 2, 2023. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, Pool, File)

FILE - Nima Momeni, the man charged in the fatal stabbing of Cash App founder Bob Lee, makes his way into the courtroom for his arraignment in San Francisco, May 2, 2023. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, Pool, File)

An Israeli strike hit a tent sheltering a displaced family in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least three people, including the parents of twins, Palestinian health officials said.

The strike late Sunday in the Nuseirat urban refugee camp wounded the two children, aged 10. They were treated for serious injuries at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah. The details of the casualties were listed in hospital records and an Associated Press reporter saw two of the bodies.

The Israeli military says it only targets militants and accuses them of hiding among civilians.

At least 24 people were wounded in the attack and taken to Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat, said Mohamed Muhareb, head of the hospital’s ambulance service.

The Israel-Hamas war began after militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others. Israel’s military response in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, Palestinian health officials say. They do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children.

Hezbollah began firing into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Since the conflict erupted, more than 3,100 people have been killed and nearly 13,900 wounded in Lebanon, the Health Ministry reported.

Here's the latest:

JERUSALEM — Israel’s new foreign minister says there has been “certain progress” in efforts to end the fighting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

But a spokesman for the militant group said Monday that it had not received any official proposal and was prepared to wage a long war if needed.

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a cease-fire, and there were reports that U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein might return to the region in the coming days.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said any agreement would have to include enforcement mechanisms to prevent Hezbollah from reconstituting its military infrastructure near the border.

“There is certain progress on the issue. We are working with the Americans,” he told reporters.

“The most important thing will not (be) the words but the enforcement,” he said, adding that if any agreement is breached, Israel “will act immediately, militarily.”

The U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war required both Hezbollah and Israeli forces to withdraw from a buffer zone in southern Lebanon that was to be patrolled by U.N. peacekeepers and the Lebanese army.

Israel says Hezbollah maintained a military presence right up to the border, while Lebanon accused Israel of violating other terms of the resolution. Lebanese officials are opposed to any changes to the resolution.

In Beirut, Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif said the group has enough weapons and supplies to fight a long war with Israel. He said Israeli forces had failed to hold territory six weeks into their ground invasion, pointing to what he said was a failed Israeli attempt last week to enter the southern town of Khiyam.

“As long as you are not able to control areas in the field you will not achieve your political goals,” Afif said.

He also denied claims by Israeli officials that Hezbollah has lost most of its missile capabilities, pointing to the fact that it is still launching dozens of projectiles a day and targeting areas in central Israel.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel, and drawing retaliatory strikes, the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. All-out war erupted in September, when Israel carried out a wave of heavy airstrikes and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders.

DAMASCUS, Syria — Israel’s air force attacked an aid convoy and forced the closure of Syria’s main north-south highway, Syria state media reported.

There was no immediate word on casualties from Monday’s strike, and state TV did not provide details about the convoy.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria in recent years. Israeli officials rarely acknowledge them, but say Israel is determined to disrupt arms shipments to Lebanon’s Hezbollah and to prevent Iran from developing military infrastructure near its borders.

Monday’s airstrike occurred in Shamsin, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the border with Lebanon. People often gather there after fleeing the war, state TV said.

It said the strike forced the closure of the M5 highway that links the capital, Damascus, with the northern city of Aleppo.

On Sunday, an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab. The Syrian Defense Ministry said seven civilians were killed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor linked to the Syrian opposition, suggested that Hezbollah was targeted.

BEIRUT — The United Nations children’s agency says the war between Israel and Hezbollah has killed more than 200 children in Lebanon.

They include seven children who were among 23 people killed in an Israeli airstrike in northern Lebanon on Sunday.

UNICEF said protecting children from harm during war is a legal obligation and called for a cease-fire.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says at least 3,189 people have been killed and over 14,000 wounded in Lebanon in more than a year of conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group. Some 1.2 million people have been displaced.

On the Israeli side, 68 soldiers and 41 civilians have been killed in the fighting since October 2023, according to the prime minister’s office. More than 60,000 people have been displaced from their homes.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel, and drawing retaliatory strikes, the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies backed by Iran.

Hezbollah acknowledged the killing of nearly 500 of its fighters in the first 11 months of the conflict but stopped updating that toll after all-out war erupted in September.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Monday claimed they launched a missile targeting Israel.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree made the claim in a prerecorded video message, claiming that the rebels launched a Palestine-2 ballistic missile he described as a “hypersonic” toward a military base.

The Israeli military said it “intercepted one projectile that approached Israel from the direction of Yemen.” The Israelis also said the fire did not enter Israeli territory.

The Houthis have launched missiles and targeted ships through the Red Sea corridor over the ongoing Mideast wars. The rebels separately said sites in the country came under attack in likely U.S. airstrikes early Monday morning, something not immediately acknowledged by the Americans.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A senior diplomat for the United Arab Emirates called on the world to focus on the plight of civilians and de-escalate the ongoing Mideast wars.

Anwar Gargash’s remarks Monday, made at the Abu Dhabi Strategic Debate, followed the pattern of comments made by the UAE amid the Mideast wars. The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms home to Dubai, diplomatically recognized Israel in 2020.

“The complexities of the region require a steady hand and a clear and consistent vision,” Gargash said. “The recent cycle of escalation between Israel and Iran cannot become a permanent feature of the strategic landscape of our region. This must be addressed through a political framework.”

He called for “pragmatism” and a “serious political horizon” to resolve the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reach a two-state solution. He described the war in the Gaza Strip as being “driven by extremists on both sides, from the Israeli and Arab side.” Yet he also called the “systemic violence” faced by Palestinians in Gaza “criminal and unacceptable.”

He added: “At the present time, it is vital to identify that not all crises stem from the Palestinian issue, yet it undeniably remains central to the conflict in our region.”

The UAE has provided aid for both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon in the wars, while maintaining its diplomatic ties with Israel. The UAE has, however, strenuously criticized Israel’s conduct at times in public in the wars.

Gargash also offered criticism of governance in both the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.

“In both Palestine and Lebanon, a drastic reform is essential for the world to step in and provide considerable support,” Gargash said.

For more Middle East news: https://apnews.com/hub/middle-east

Rescue workers search for victims under the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Rescue workers search for victims under the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Two boys observe the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Two boys observe the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Palestinian citizens of Israel protest against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in Umm Al-Fahm, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian citizens of Israel protest against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in Umm Al-Fahm, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian citizens of Israel protest against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in Umm Al-Fahm, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian citizens of Israel protest against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in Umm Al-Fahm, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

People protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, marking 400 days since their capture. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, marking 400 days since their capture. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Rescue workers use excavators to remove the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, as they search for victims in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Rescue workers use excavators to remove the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, as they search for victims in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Palestinian citizens of Israel protest against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in Umm Al-Fahm, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. The placard in Arabic reads: " the war of extermination in Palestine and Lebanon - read more about this topic." (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian citizens of Israel protest against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in Umm Al-Fahm, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. The placard in Arabic reads: " the war of extermination in Palestine and Lebanon - read more about this topic." (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

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