Lawyers for Nima Momeni, the man accused fatal stabbing of tech executive Bob Lee in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023 — are preparing for his trial, which is set to begin next week.
The lawyers plan to plead self-defense in their client’s case. In new court documents, they say Momeni was “forced to defend his position” after what they call a “flash of aggression” from Lee.
Self-defense argument
“In the moments after Nima was forced to defend his position, he called his sister to warn her not to let Bob or Jeremy into her home,” according to court documents filed by the defense on Tuesday. “Nima was concerned for his sister’s safety due to Bob’s altered state, recent aggression, and statements made by Bob Lee at the scene.”
“Jeremy” refers to Jeremy Boivin, a friend who allegedly supplied Nima’s sister Khazar Momeni with drugs. Prosecutors describe Boivin as “a friend of both Lee and Momeni.”
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In an interview with CBS News Bay Area, lawyer Saam Zangeneh There is evidence they say will show at trial that Nima Momeni did not believe Lee was fatally wounded.
“There is evidence, physical evidence, that will show that Nima did not believe that Bob Lee was mortally wounded. And if you look at the weapon itself, I mean the mother knife, the blade is really small, you know? And imagine, I mean the undisputed evidence. The video shows Bob Lee walking carefully straight down Main Street on his phone,” Zangeneh said. “If you’re going to mortally wound someone and they grab the phone, right? You don’t see Nima running after him, not at all.”
An “overprotective” brother
The prosecution has a different perspective. County prosecutors, led by Omid Talai, described a scene in which Momeni appears as an “overprotective” brother already agitated by an incident hours earlier with his sister, who had taken the drug GHB, also known as a date rape drug, supplied by another man.
Drugs played a major role as more details emerged about the circumstances surrounding the fatal stabbing. According to the report by San Francisco coroner Lee alcohol, cocaine and ketamine were found in his system when he died on the operating tablee at San Francisco General Hospital.
In the county’s filing, prosecutors said Lee received a video call from Nima Momeni and “aggressively questioned Mr. Lee about what had happened at the Mission Street apartment. Defendant questioned Mr. Lee about drug use at the apartment, Khazar’s behavior, and specifically about ‘the girls undressing’ at Mr. Boivin’s apartment.”
The defense says they plan to “shoot holes” in the prosecution’s arguments.
“We’re going to poke holes and show holes. We’re going to open the jury’s eyes to the mistakes that were made. That’s what you do, because you have to do it,” Zangeneh explained. “I think that… there were some blunders made in this case. I think there were certain things that they did that were correct, and there were certain things that they did that were incorrect. And there were certain things that they didn’t do. And our job is to educate the jury on all three aspects of that.”
Witnesses for the defense
The Public Prosecution Service has identified 34 witnesses that they can call, including 21 members of the SFPD and Khazar Momeni.
The defense indicated that they may call Nima Momeni as a witness during his trial, but that they will not name him as a witness.
“He wants to scream at the top of his lungs about what exactly happened so that people can really understand the truth behind what happened on Main Street in the early morning of April 4. He needs to tell the truth,” Zangeneh said.
Nima Momeni has been in San Francisco County Jail since his arrest in April 2023.
In the charging document from earlier this month, the prosecution says that “defendant murdered Robert Lee by stabbing him three times with a kitchen knife, piercing Mr. Lee’s heart. Enraged by the alleged interactions between Mr. Lee and defendant’s sister, Khazar Momeni, defendant drove Mr. Lee to a dark, secluded area under the Bay Bridge where defendant stabbed Mr. Lee twice in the chest and once in the hip.”
Prosecutors say that knife matches a set found in Khazar Momeni’s apartment.
A concerned family member
But the defense team says their client’s behavior in the hours leading up to the stabbing was in line with that of any concerned family member.
“You have a family member, a father, a mother, a brother, a sister who is concerned about their sister in terms of drug use and whether or not a drug dealer should be allowed to sell drugs to his sister, and they use that as a springboard to say, ‘He’s so controlling. He’s so protective.’ I think it’s a little far-fetched,” Momeni attorney Bradford Cohen said. “I think they’re looking for some sort of motive, even though they don’t have to prove a motive. I think they’re desperate for a motive, and I think they’re going to try to use that as a motive.”
According to the DA’s office, a reconstruction of the alleged stabbing was also captured on camera. During surveillance by county detectives in the days following Momeni’s arrest, he was filmed making stabbing gestures in the parking lot of his former attorney’s office in Burlingame.
The District Attorney’s Office declined to speak with CBS News Bay Area ahead of the trial, but in their filing they describe the video this way: “Defendant makes three stabbing motions with his hand – two to Mr. Hedley’s chest and one to the side, and then makes an overhand throwing motion. These three stabbing motions directly correspond to the three separate stab wounds sustained by Mr. Lee. The overhand throwing motion also corresponds to the throwing motion defendant made on surveillance video at the Caltrans gate on the night of Mr. Lee’s death.”
Private law between lawyer and client
However, the defense wants this video to be rejected because it was a confidential conversation that took place under the attorney’s right to remain silent.
“There has to be an area of attorney-client privilege. And even if they didn’t know it at the time that they were doing their surveillance, they know it now. And so the fact that they’re trying to circumvent that substantial privilege that a person has when they believe that they’re speaking and having a meeting, under the safe umbrella of attorney-client privilege that they’re trying to break,” Zangeneh said. “So that’s clearly someone’s consent. That’s someone’s right. You know, you have a right to confidentiality and confidential communications with your legal team, and that’s what we’re trying to protect.”
The defense team is seeking an acquittal and a not guilty verdict in the case, something their client says he requested. They do not plan to seek a lesser charge of manslaughter. Momeni has entered a plea of not guilty last november.
“That’s what we believe the evidence suggests, ultimately that’s a decision a jury makes. They have options. They can find him guilty as charged. They can find him guilty of lesser charges, or they can find him not guilty. We’re not going to ask for a lesser charge,” Zangeneh said. “So, I mean, they can still do whatever they want, it’s the jury’s job, you know, but we’re not asking for a lesser charge.”
County prosecutors say Momeni faces 26 years to life in prison if convicted. Preliminary hearings in the case begin Wednesday, and jury selection is expected to begin next week.
