LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 24, 2025 – Rakim Mayers, a.k.a. A$AP Rocky, listens to opening remarks by his attorney in his trial in Dept. 102 at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles on January 24, 2025. Mayers was charged in August 2022 with two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, along with allegations he personally used a firearm during the pair of confrontations with Terell Ephron — also known as A$AP Relli — on the evening of Nov. 6, 2021. (POOL PHOTO BY GENARO MOLINA/LOS ANGELES TIMES)