Tech consultant spars with the prosecutor over details of the death of Cash App founder Bob Lee

SAN FRANCISCO– A tech consultant charged with murder in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee sparred with the lead prosecutor during Thursday’s trial, interrupting questions asked of him with questions of his own as he was questioned about his testimony.

Nima Momeni, 40, had to be ordered by the judge several times to give responsive answers.

He broke his public silence after 18 months when he took the witness stand Wednesday to explain how Lee was found staggering on a deserted street in downtown San Francisco at 2:30 a.m. on April 4, 2023, dripping a trail of blood and calling for help shouted. He later died in a hospital.

Momeni testified that Lee, 43, suddenly pulled a knife on him after suffering a “bad joke” suggesting that Lee should spend his last night in the city with family instead of trying to visit a strip club. He said Lee later walked away and showed no signs of being injured.

His testimony stunned Lee’s father, brother and ex-wife, who were steadfast in the criminal trial. They say Lee was magnanimous and gentle, and had a good relationship with his two children and ex-wife.

“What you’ve seen is Nima being aggressive in the stands, you’ve just seen him trying to take control of this room. His arrogance and his entitlement are on full display here,” the victim’s brother Timothy Oliver Lee said, speaking to reporters outside the courtroom Thursday.

“This is crazy,” he said. “This is all ridiculous.”

The trial is entering its fifth week. Momeni faces 26 years to life in prison if convicted.

Lee’s death stunned the technical community while fellow managers and engineers paid tribute to the generosity and genius of the charismatic entrepreneur. At the time of his death, he was Chief Product Officer of cryptocurrency platform MobileCoin.

Prosecutors say Momeni planned the April 4 attack after a dispute over his younger sister, Khazar Momeni, with whom Lee was friends. Momeni had picked up his sister from the home of a drug dealer who Lee had introduced to her, and she said she may have been sexually assaulted after taking a date-rape drug called GHB.

They say Momeni was angry with Lee, so he grabbed a knife from his sister’s apartment, and after the couple was evicted from her home at 2 a.m., he drove Lee to a secluded area and stabbed him three times, after which he fled.

Omid Talai, the assistant district attorney, questioned Momeni on Thursday about details of how exactly the attack unfolded. He asked Momeni why he didn’t call the police after the attack and learned Lee had died, and why he didn’t respond to his sister’s text message asking where he dropped Lee off.

Momeni said he only learned of Lee’s death the next day and was surprised by his sister’s question. He said he believed Lee could have been stabbed by someone else shortly after seeing him walk away unharmed.

In response to questions, Momeni said he did not know what the prosecutor was referring to, accused him of misrepresenting his statements and said he had already answered.

At one point, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alexandra Gordon said the prosecutor had no obligation to give him a printout of the texts he was questioning him about, or to post them on the multimedia screen.

“Gotcha,” said Momeni, wearing a blue suit and tie. “Thanks for the clarification.”

Prosecutors have a video showing Lee and Momeni leaving Khazar Momeni’s apartment after 2 a.m. and driving away together in Momeni’s BMW. Video also shows the two men getting out of the car at a secluded spot near the Bay Bridge.

Prosecutors say Momeni stabbed Lee there, while the defense says Lee attacked Momeni there, erratically and aggressively through a multi-day use of cocaine, ketamine and drinking.

A knife recovered from the area where Lee was stabbed showed Momeni’s DNA on the handle, but the defense said the handle should have been tested for fingerprints, namely Lee’s.

Momeni said he and Lee were on friendly terms when they left his sister’s apartment, but prosecutors say the defendant questioned the business owner earlier in the evening about what might have happened to his sister at the drug dealer’s apartment.

The prosecutor pointed out several times on Thursday that Momeni interrogated him the way he interrogated Lee.

Nima Momeni was 14 when his mother, Mahnaz Tayarani, took him and Khazar to the US, fleeing Iran and a husband who had subjected the family to years of abuse and violence. provisional release.

She has been sitting on one side of the courtroom, while Lee’s relatives are on the other side.