A$AP Rocky's Mom Shows Up for Assault Trial as Rapper Pleads Not Guilty

A$AP Rocky entered a not guilty plea to assault charges in a Swedish court on Tuesday as the rapper's mother, Renee Black, was among those who showed up for the first day of his trial.

Swedish public prosecutor Daniel Suneson laid out the charges against the rapper and two other men, claiming they assaulted the alleged victim while he laid on the ground.

A lawyer for the victim has said his client is seeking about 139,700 Swedish krona in damages (about $14,600).

A$AP has claimed he acted in self-defense.

The prosecution laid out their evidence in the case, including surveillance video from the burger restaurant where the fight began. Crime scene photos showed a broken bottle on the street where the brawl took place but no finger prints or DNA were found on the bottle.

During the hearing, Suneson suggested that the videos A$AP shared on social media were purposely edited to leave out the moment when the rapper's security guard grabbed the alleged victim by the neck and lifted him off the ground.

Suneson also presented text messages between members of A$AP's team where they discussed "cleaning up" and "deleting" the videos.

The alleged victim in the case testified that he suffered injuries to his head and arms during the incident, as well as broken ribs.

He told the court, "I felt that they would beat me to death."

The alleged victim also testified that he was not on drugs, as A$AP and his bodyguard have claimed, and he does not speak English, which is why he did not understand what A$AP and the bodyguard were saying.

A$AP's attorney argued that his client acted out of fear after being provoked.

An A$AP Rocky fan, who was in court for the first day of the hearing, told CNN, "I think he will be convicted -- there is quite a lot of evidence against him. It would be right to convict him, but he shouldn't get a very long sentence, since he was provoked."

She added, "I mean, there are laws in Sweden, just because you are a celebrity doesn't mean you should get away."

The charges carry a maximum sentence of two years in prison but Swedish media has reported that prosecutors are not expected to ask for the harshest sentence.

As The Blast first reported, while being interviewed by police after the alleged incident, A$AP Rocky told investigators he believed the man who he allegedly assaulted was on drugs and his bodyguard texted friends the same thing in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

The interrogator then asked why A$AP believed the man was on drugs. He responded, "I thought so because of their behavior. Anyone who would attack my security guard several times does not seem to be a reasonable or reasonable person in my opinion. Especially when he breaks his own headphones and then asks us about them."

At one point, the interrogator asked A$AP why he felt the need to attack the alleged victim while he was on the ground.

He explained, "You need to know one thing. I'm not from here, I'm a celebrity. I am in a foreign country, I am being harassed and persecuted by these strangers. Nine months ago I was in a nightclub and a completely foreign person cut me in the face with a knife. I do not know what to believe about these guys or how to rationalize with them to leave us alone. I don't know if they will chop me, if they will cut me or if they have any weapons or anything else. All I know is that they attacked Tim and then I saw him and threw him down to the ground. I kicked his arm to keep him down and detain him and I don't remember if I then followed up with him or if I just fell down him. When I saw that the other guys arrived to help, I knew my duty was ready. I got up, turned around and that was when his friend was on his way and attacked. We were pushed, elbowed and pulled each other. At this stage, Tim came and pulled me in another direction. During this time, I did not see what happened to everyone else, that is, I did not see what happened to the others just before Tim pulled me off."