The 12-person jury rejected first-degree murder and instead convicted Momeni of a lesser charge, second-degree murder, finding that the slaying was intentional but unplanned.
At trial, prosecutors had argued that Momeni was an “overprotective, wanna-be tough guy” who stabbed Lee following an argument over whether the executive acted inappropriately with Momeni’s sister, Khazar.
In his defence, Momeni told the jury Lee was the aggressor. He said that during a late night of socialising in April 2023 after they’d met for the first time two days earlier, Lee became enraged over a “bad joke” while bingeing on drugs, pulled a knife out of his jacket pocket and took a swing, before Momeni grabbed his arm and redirected the blade at his upper chest.
“I was afraid for my life,” Momeni testified under questioning from his own lawyer as he gave a blow-by-blow account of the physical confrontation that he says ended with Lee “casually” walking away, appearing to be uninjured, and Momeni throwing the knife over a fence. Lee died in hospital hours after he called 911 for help and was found bleeding from multiple wounds, including one that pierced his heart.
Witnesses recounted a party that Lee attended and left before Khazar Momeni was allegedly given a date rape drug, as well as a phone call in which Nima Momeni questioned Lee about his sister “getting naked”. Prosecutors claimed Momeni took the knife to kill Lee, while defence lawyers argued that Momeni was mad at the party host, not Lee.
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Khazar, in her own testimony, sought to defend her brother but acknowledged on the stand that her memory was foggy because she’d been on a drug bender before and after Lee’s death. The jury also saw an exchange of texts between the Momeni siblings after the incident and heard from duelling forensics experts about DNA testing of the knife and how Lee was wounded.
In their closing argument, prosecutors called Momeni’s defence “a carefully crafted story”.
“The defendant murdered Bob or this is the biggest coincidence of the history of coincidences,” said Omid Talai, an assistant district attorney. “Nima Momeni must have been struck by lightning 30 times here.”
Defence attorney Saam Zanganeh told jurors “motive is everything” and that the prosecution’s version of events didn’t add up, including that Momeni deliberately took Lee to a “dark and secluded place” to kill him.
“This is in the heart of a residential-commercial area,” he said. “This is the heart of San Francisco.”
Bloomberg