Nima Momeni has been found guilty of manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of Cash App founder Bob Lee, a verdict reached by a San Francisco jury after seven days of deliberation.
The first-degree murder conviction carries a sentence of 15 years to life in prison and includes an admonition to use a knife in the crime. Momeni was found not guilty of the more serious charge of first-degree murder.
Prosecutors Dane Reinstedt and Omid Talai were present in the courtroom for the sentencing, as was Sgt. Brent Dittmer – who testified at the trial – and a handful of members of the district attorney’s office. The Lee family, including his ex-wife Krista and brother, were also there with other family members, friends and supporters.
Defense lawyers Tony Brass and Zoe Aron were also present, along with Momeni’s mother Mahnaz Momeni. The defendant’s sister, Khazar Momeni, was not present when the verdict was read out in court on Tuesday morning.
In the courtroom, the judge sternly warned those present not to give an audible response to the verdict read out.
A preliminary hearing to set Momeni’s sentencing date is scheduled for January 10, 2025.
The Bob Lee family speaks
Outside the courtroom, Lee’s brother Timothy Oliver Lee said the family was satisfied with the verdict.
“We are happy with the result today. We are happy that Nima Momeni will no longer be on the streets and will no longer have the opportunity to harm anyone else in this world,” he said. “The verdict of murder two will lock him up for a long time.”
He also noted that in addition to Momeni being found guilty of the murder, the proceedings showed that his family was complicit in the crime by helping him cover up the murder and that they had “blood on their hands.” He said the Momeni family had several dozen friends and supporters in the courtroom when the verdict was read.
“We are extremely grateful to the Public Prosecution Service, we are extremely grateful to the juries. I think justice has been done here today,” he added.
San Francisco DA Jenkins defends the city
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins was present for the sentencing and thanked the attorneys who prosecuted the case outside the courtroom after the guilty verdict was read.
“I knew I was confident that we had the best two handling this case,” Jenkins said. “And I think the verdict was a testament to the hard work that they put in, to the great lawyers that they are, and to their commitment to justice and to making sure that this family gets justice.”
She also pushed back on what Elon Musk and others said after the stabbing occurred, when critics claimed San Francisco is lawless and out of control as part of the popular “doom loop” narrative often broadcast on social media.
“I think now we’ve hopefully re-established what really happened here. We all know that after Bob Lee was murdered, Elon Musk took to Twitter to attempt to really shame San Francisco, and make it seem like it was. about the lawlessness in San Francisco and about what’s happening in our streets,” Jenkins said.
She noted that police believed early on that Lee’s fatal stabbing was not a random crime.
“And we knew it was something different. And I think today proved once again that we are a city committed to accountability, a city committed to public safety,” she added. “And that when something bad happens, which is not always within our control, law enforcement at every level will respond to ensure there is justice and accountability in every situation.”
Jenkins said her office would prepare for an appeal to be filed by Momeni’s defense team.
Fatal stabbing of Cash App founder
Momeni was accused of it fatally stabbing tech manager Lee in a remote part of San Francisco’s East Cut neighborhood, under the Bay Bridge in April 2023.
Officials of the Court announced late Monday afternoon that the jury had reached a verdict shortly before 4 p.m
Prosecutors accused Momeni of stabbing Lee with a kitchen knife after a heated argument about his sister’s relationship with Lee as well as their continued drug use. During the trial, Momeni’s lawyers claimed their client acted in self-defenseclaiming Lee lunged at Momeni with a knife in his hand while high on ketamine and cocaine. The defense said Lee became erratic and aggressive after Momeni made a “bad joke”. at the expense of Lee’s family.
Intensive ordeal
The six-week trial was punctuated by dramatic testimony, including an appearance on the stand by Momeni’s sister, Khazar Momeni. She testified as a witness for the prosecution and insisted during her first day of testimony that her brother did not kill Lee. She also detailed consuming various drugs with Lee and others in the days leading up to the fatal stabbing.
Under cross-examination by lawyers, Khazar Momeni described Lee as “all over the place” and “aggressive” while high on drugs. Her testimony was criticized outside the courtroom by Lee’s ex-wife Krista Lee accused her of “victimizing herself.”
The testimony became controversial when Nima Momeni took the stand as a defendant sparred with the prosecutor during cross-examination after earlier describes how Lee allegedly attacked him as his defense team questioned him about the confrontation.
Challenging the story of Nima Momeni
San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Omid Talai disputed Momeni’s version of the story, focusing on his actions immediately after Lee’s death, including his phone calls to lawyers and text messages with his sister.
The case was finalized with prosecutors in the first week of December in an attempt to undermine Momeni’s defense in their closing arguments and ask why he didn’t call the police or tell anyone that Lee had allegedly attacked him.
The defense showed an impressive video during their closing arguments, presenting surveillance images they claimed Lee was doing cocaine on the street outside a private club with the same knife that killed him hours later. Defense attorney Saam Zangeneh used a cardboard cutout of the knife in court so the jury could see the size of the paring knife that the video proved Lee had in his possession all along.
That video sparked a tense conversation between Zangeneh and Lee’s ex-wife, who let out a loud, mocking laugh as he showed the footage.
Zangeneh turned to address her directly and said it wasn’t funny. Prosecutors quickly objected and the judge intervened to restore order in the courtroom.
The jury deliberations began on the morning of December 4.
Who is Nima Momeni?
Nima Momeni, 40, was then described as a ‘tech entrepreneur’ he was arrested in April 2023 for the murder of Bob Lee. Momeni was taken into custody at his home in Emeryville on April 11, days after the fatal stabbing.
According to his Linkedin page, Momeni is the owner of Expand IT. Its profile describes the company as providing IT solutions in the Bay Area since 2010.
Neighbors who lived near Momeni were shocked when they heard of his arrest. After Momeni was taken into custody, Bay Area PR veteran Sam Singer, who worked alongside him, said he never had any problems with the defendant other than hearing the music being played a little too loudly.
“Warm, welcoming, very nice guy, like every other technology consultant here in the Bay Area, lives in a live-work space,” Singer said. “He handed us a stack of cards and said, ‘If you ever need anything, just let me know.’”
It later emerged that Khazar had introduced Momeni Lee to her brother, thinking the successful Cash App founder might collaborate with him on one of Nima’s projects.
Who was Bob Lee?
Bob Lee, a successful Bay Area technology executive, was best known as one of the creators and founders of the Cash App digital wallet. Lee had also worked at Google as a software engineer in the 2000s, where he helped develop the mobile operating system used by Android mobile phones.
In 2010, he was hired by e-commerce company Square, Inc. from San Francisco, where he became Chief Technology Officer before eventually moving to Cash App. At the time of his death, Lee was working as the Chief Product Officer of the cryptocurrency MobileCoin.
Lee lived in Mill Valley with his family, including his now ex-wife Krista and two children, but the couple separated in 2019. Lee had then moved to Miami to live with his father in 2022 and was in San Francisco on business when he was. fatally stabbed.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Lee and Khazar Momeni belonged to a sex- and drug-fueled underground party scene known in wealthy tech circles in the Bay Area as “The Lifestyle.” This is evident from the medical examiner’s report the tech manager died on the operating table and was found to have alcohol, cocaine and ketamine in his system.
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