Tech advisor Nima Momeni pleaded not responsible Thursday to a homicide cost within the stabbing demise of Money App founder Bob Lee on the streets of San Francisco.
San Francisco Superior Courtroom Choose Victor Hwang ordered Momeni, 38, saved in jail with out bail, saying his launch posed a public security threat. Momeni, who appeared in an orange sweatshirt and pants, didn’t communicate, and his legal professional Paula Canny entered the plea on his behalf.
The case has drawn nationwide consideration, partly given Lee’s standing within the tech world. Lee was discovered with three stab wounds, together with one to the center, shortly after 2:30 a.m. April 4 and was taken to a hospital, the place he later died. He was discovered within the Rincon Hill neighborhood in downtown San Francisco, which has tech workplaces and condominiums however little exercise within the early morning hours.
Lee, 43, created Money App, a cellular fee service, and was the chief product officer of the cryptocurrency MobileCoin. He was mourned as a loving father of two who made buddies wherever he went.
Prosecutors haven’t offered a motive however say Momeni stabbed Lee after a dispute associated to Momeni’s sister, Khazar Elyassnia. She appeared in court docket Thursday alongside Momeni’s mom.
Assistant District Legal professional Omid Talai argued Thursday to detain Momeni with out bail, saying that the defendant drove Lee to a secluded spot and used a knife that was a part of a singular kitchen set belonging to his sister. Police recovered a knife with a 4-inch blade on the scene.
Talai stated that evaluation confirmed Momeni’s DNA on the deal with of the knife and Lee’s DNA on the bloody blade and no proof that Lee had touched the deal with, contradicting Canny’s declare of self-defense for her shopper.
However Canny stated that Momeni didn’t drive Lee to a secluded spot with the intention of killing him. As a substitute, she stated, Lee directed him to drag over after calling an Uber as a result of the 2 had argued. The final time Momeni noticed Lee, Canny stated, Lee was standing upright and strolling away.
“Individuals can have a battle and never know that someone’s been mortally wounded,” she stated in court docket, later including, “Each considered one of us, together with my shopper, is heartbroken that Bob Lee died.”
Canny stated Momeni has robust ties to the neighborhood and wishes to remain and battle the costs or else face deportation to Iran, which might separate him from the 2 individuals he loves most, his mom and sister. Momeni is just not a U.S. citizen.
Exterior the courtroom, she described the encounter as “a cross between self-defense and accident. There was no premeditation deliberation.”
San Francisco’s District Legal professional Brooke Jenkins rejected that concept in chatting with reporters after the arraignment. “We imagine that we now have the assassin of Mr. Lee, and that’s Mr. Momeni,” she stated.
Momeni was arrested final month at his house in Emeryville, which is throughout the bay from San Francisco.
An unnamed buddy of Lee instructed murder investigators that they had been hanging out and consuming with Momeni’s sister the day earlier than the stabbing, prosecutors stated in a movement to detain Momeni with out bail.
The buddy stated Momeni later questioned Lee about whether or not his sister was doing medicine or in any other case participating in inappropriate habits and Lee stated she had not.
The buddy and Lee later parted methods, and surveillance video confirmed Lee coming into the luxury Millennium Tower downtown, the place Elyassnia lives together with her husband, a distinguished plastic surgeon. Video footage then confirmed Lee and Momeni leaving the constructing collectively shortly after 2 a.m. and driving off in Momeni’s automobile.
Momeni faces 26 years to life if convicted.
