Nima Momeni’s lawyers demand Bob Lee murder trial is moved outside San Francisco, claiming published photos of suspected killer in jail could prejudice jury
Lawyers for Nima Momeni are demanding a change of venue for Bob Lee's murder trial after “highly damaging” photos of the accused killer locked in a prison cell were published by a local news channel.
The request was brought up during a hearing Thursday morning at the San Francisco Hall of Justice, where the judge revealed that an investigation into the photos has already been launched.
βAs soon as I saw it, I notified the sheriff, and they looked into it all,β Superior Court Judge Loretta Giorgi assured the attorneys.
βThe sheriff is taking this very seriously,β the judge added.
Attorneys for Nima Momeni β pictured in a court sketch Thursday β filed a motion to move his trial outside San Francisco after photos of the murder suspect in jail were published in The San Francisco Standard earlier this week.
Momeni β pictured at his arraignment in May β is charged in the April fatal stabbing of Cash App founder Bob Lee
'There is an internal investigation, there is an external investigation. They let me know they are taking care of it.β
The defense filed a motion to change the trial's venue after the photos were published Tuesday The San Francisco Standard which they claimed could harm the local jury pool.
The photos show Momeni, in orange prison garb, staring from his cell, standing in front of his bunk bed and near a desk full of books, including one on Napoleon and another on psychology.
A freelance photographer working for the LA Times went to San Bruno prison in August to take photos of the solitary confinement and then sold photos of Momeni to the San Francisco newspaper, it is alleged.
“The cameraman knew he wasn't allowed to take those photos,” attorney Bradford Cohen said after the hearing.
'He was instructed not to take pictures of people in those cells, but he did it anyway.
βThe article, combined with those photos, is one of the most disgusting things I have seen in a case where a suspect is innocent until proven guilty,β he added.
Momeni's lawyer Saam Zanganeh filed the motion for the change, arguing that the photos will make it even more difficult to get a fair trial.
Supreme Court Justice Loretta Giorgi assured lawyers that an investigation into the photos is underway
At one point during Thursday's hearing, Momeni was admonished by the court to “face forward” after looking at his mother, who stood in the front row with her arms raised in the shape of a heart.
Momeni, who is currently being held in San Francisco County Jail awaiting trial, hugged his attorney at the end of the hearing
Mahnaz Tayarani Babai, mother of Cash App killer Nima Momeni leaves court after hearing with lawyers
βBob Lee is akin to a celebrity in the tech industry and a vast majority of San Franciscans are part of that industry,β Zanganeh said.
βSo it's like a Laker from Los Angeles is the victim of a murder. Do you think the defendant will get a fair trial in LA?β
The judge set a hearing in late January to discuss the motion and other matters and scheduled the murder trial for March 15.
Momeni's mother, Mahnaz Tayarani Babai, was in court for her son's appearance.
He was admonished by the court to “face forward” after looking at his mother, who stood in the front row with her arms raised in the shape of a heart.
Momeni is currently being held in the San Francisco County Jail awaiting trial for Lee's murder.
The update in the murder case comes after his sister, Khazar Momeni, was seen in new video footage on Monday desperately trying to keep herself out of jail after crashing into several parked cars – reportedly while high on nitrous oxide.
The clip, obtained and published by DailyMail.com on Thursday, showed the moment San Francisco officers arrested the 38-year-old for suspected drunken driving.
A witness to the exchange told DailyMail.com that Khazar appeared to be “high as hell.”
Momeni's sister Khazar, who is married to prominent plastic surgeon Dr. Dino Elyassnia, was seen last month with her husband supporting her brother in court
Momeni was taken into custody late Monday morning after allegedly hitting several parked cars in the Tenderloin neighborhood while under the influence of nitrous oxide.
Bystander footage also shows what appeared to be a large 'whippets' van clearly visible next to Khazar's designer handbag on the driver's seat of her fancy car.
The bizarre episode unfolded around 11 a.m. Monday on a homeless and drug-ridden block in San Francisco's Tenderloin District, a mile from the luxury condominium she shares with her plastic surgeon husband, Dino Elyassnia.
She was also booked into lockup, charged with driving under the influence, two counts of hit and run, failure to drive within lane and failure to obtain insurance at the scene of an accident.
Lee reportedly had a casual sexual relationship with her before his death on April 4.
She appeared not to be wearing her wedding ring, which was visible on her finger in October, when she attended a court hearing for her brother, who was denied bail for allegedly killing the Cash App founder.
Khazar was seen sporting her enormous ring on the steps outside the court, donning a glamorous all-black outfit, large black sunglasses, and her blonde hair hanging long from her V-neck blouse.
At the October 2 hearing, Momeni was denied bail, with the judge rejecting the defense's argument that he posed no danger to society because he was, at worst, an inept killer.
Zangeneh argued that his client was not the cold-blooded, premeditated murderer portrayed by prosecutors.
Instead, he suggested that the evidence suggests this was a sudden interaction, carried out in the heat of passion.