Nima Momeni, the man accused of the fatal stabbing of tech executive and Cash App founder Bob Lee, testified for the first time in his defense at his murder trial on Wednesday.
Momeni was arrested nine days later Lee was fatally stabbed in April 2023 in San Francisco’s Rincon Hill/East Cut neighborhood. Prosecutors allege Momeni stabbed Lee with a kitchen knife taken from his sister Khazar Momeni’s apartment. He has pleaded not guilty to the murder and his lawyers claim Momeni was defending himself against a drug-addicted Lee.
Sketch by Vicki Behringer
Momeni wore a navy blue suit and first took the stand at around 10.45am
Under questioning by lawyer Saam Zangeneh, Momeni described his upbringing in Tehran, Iran, on Wednesday. The 40-year-old tearfully told how he, his sister and his mother left Iran when he was 15 years old to escape abuse from his father. Momeni also described learning martial arts after moving to the Bay Area and dropping out of college to work various jobs.
Jurors listened intently as Momeni spoke for the first time in court and for the first time in public anywhere since she was arrested and charged with Lee’s murder.
His lawyer then detailed his relationship with his sister Khazar, whose age he said was one year apart. Momeni testified that Khazar’s drug use has worsened over the years and affected their relationship.
“It has gotten worse since COVID,” Momeni said. “The amount and intensity of binge eating, emotions and reactions… all of these things have gotten much worse… just going on for days.”
Sketch by Vicki Behringer
Prosecutors have highlighted text message exchanges with her brother in the hours after Lee’s murder, calling him “psychotic” and “crazy.” Early testimony in the trial focused on Khazar Momeni’s relationship with Lee and their alleged drug use. Khazar Momeni is married to prominent San Francisco plastic surgeon Dino Elyassnia, and during Nima Momeni’s testimony Wednesday, he said his sister and her husband have “an open marriage.”
“They have their rules, they respect each other… it works for them and they are happy with it,” he testified. “They are grown people, they can do whatever they want.”
Nima Momeni also described the events leading up to Lee’s murder, including the emotional-sounding Khazar Momeni’s phone call asking to be picked up after “a bad trip.”
Momeni also described his interactions with Lee the night before the stabbing, describing Lee as “talkative” and saying they had no conflict. Momeni also said he was upset when he heard about it an alleged assault on his sister by one of Lee’s acquaintances while she was incapacitated due to drugs, claiming he was not angry with Lee.
Momeni said they left his sister’s apartment with the idea of possibly going to a strip club. The defendant said they drove to Main Street and stopped when Lee spilled his drink. He noted that at one point he thought Lee was going to throw up.
Although he shed tears earlier in his testimony, the defendant was calm and collected on the stand as he explained how Lee became enraged after Momeni made what he called a bad joke.
He said he told Lee he would rather hang out with his family than go to a strip club if it was his last night on the town.
Momeni said that comment infuriated Lee and led to him attacking Momeni with a knife. He said Lee went from zero to 100, his anger visible on his face.
What followed was a dramatic courtroom reenactment of what the defendant claimed happened next.
Momeni said he tried to prevent Lee’s arm from holding the knife and pressed it against Lee’s chest, pushing him backward twice.
Lee then walked in the other direction on his phone. Momeni said he saw the knife on the ground and threw it over a fence to prevent Lee from retrieving it. He said this all happened without his knowledge that Lee was fatally injured.
Defense attorneys also showed juror texts between Momeni and Lee hours before the fatal stabbing. They argued that the texts show a cordial new relationship between the two men, an attempt to strengthen the defense’s argument that Momeni had no motive to attack Lee.
In one text, Momeni thanked Lee for talking about an incident with Momeni’s sister earlier.
In the afternoon, the prosecutor had the first chance to question Momeni. Sometimes the suspect became irritated.
The prosecutor pressed Momeni on why a bad joke would lead to Lee attacking him. Momeni said the bad joke was one he took to heart. The prosecutor responded that he took it to heart, referring to the stab wound to Lee’s vital organ that proved fatal.
On Tuesday, defense attorneys called a medical expert to the witness stand who testified that it is possible that their theory of self-defense could be true.
Florida-based physician and pathologist Dr. John Marraccini told jurors that based on Lee’s wound pattern, the wounds could have been self-inflicted as Momeni defended himself from an attack. Marraccini testified that at least one wound could have been sustained when Lee pulled a knife from his pocket and was quickly restrained by Momeni – penetrating Lee’s skin.
However, the doctor’s credibility was called into question when Marraccini acknowledged that he splits his time as a general practitioner and private consultant, testifying “99%” for the defense and “1%” for prosecutors.
During cross-examination on Wednesday, Marraccini conceded the possibility of the prosecution’s theory that Lee suffered his fatal injuries from a direct attack by Momeni.
