In the latest development of the Bob Lee murder trial, jurors were presented with a video that has become the center of a heated debate. According to CBS News Bay Area, the video shows accused Nima Momeni re-enacting the stabbing of the Cash App founder. Taken at the parking lot of Momeni's former defense attorney, the footage was captured from an SFPD surveillance operation launched after the April 2023 incident but before Momeni's arrest.
San Francisco Police Sergeant David Goff testified that Momeni appeared to make three stabbing motions and a throwing gesture similar to that seen in other surveillance footage, where the defendant is believed to have discarded the murder weapon. However, the lack of audio and a partially obscured view of Momeni's right arm raise questions about the conclusiveness of the video, which was shot from approximately 30 feet away inside an unmarked vehicle. Despite the defense's objections and concerns over attorney-client privilege, a judge ruled the video admissible, with stipulations to blur Momeni's mouth to prevent lip-reading by jurors.
The prosecution argued that the footage demonstrates Momeni's intimate knowledge of Mr. Lee's injuries, while Shannan Dugan, an attorney observing the trial, mentioned to CBS News Bay Area, "I think the prosecution did perhaps overpromise in their opening statement what this video was going to show." Bradford Cohen, one of Momeni's defense lawyers, further discounted the impact of the clip: "This piece of evidence hurt them more than it helped them," he told CBS News Bay Area.
Complementing the video evidence, jurors also reviewed photos of the victim and detailed testimonies regarding the location and severity of Lee’s wounds, as recounted in Mission Local. The video did not, however, depict Momeni acting out a struggle over the knife, as the defense suggests happened. Momeni's attorney, Bradford Cohen, has challenged the video, noting the three wounds on Lee did not match the motions made by Momeni in the footage. "You have no idea what he’s talking about, right?" Cohen asked Sergeant Goff, who admitted he did not. Further, the defense has indicated an intent to show the jury more of the video to provide additional context potentially supporting their self-defense claim.
