WEBVTT - Bob Lee Part 4: The Made-for-TV Murder Trial 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:08.560 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:13.080 Previously on Tuesday. 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:15.160 Boom. 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:20.160 Heys, please, Hey, who did this to you? 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:23.680 They're saying he took a kitchen knife from his sister's 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:28.840 apartment to his car with Bob, got in the car, 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:32.479 went somewhere else, and then attacked him. 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:34.560 It just didn't make sense. 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:35.800 Didn't make sense to me. 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:38.160 All of a sudden, his name became a household word 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:41.760 for the worst of reasons, and it just pissed me off. 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:52.880 Nima Momenti's murder trial started on October fourteenth, twenty twenty four, 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:56.800 a year and a half after the killing. I was 0:00:56.800 --> 0:00:59.480 there for the entirety of the trial. It would ultimately 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:06.080 run for eight weeks. Nima showed up to court every 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.640 day in a suit. He was seated alongside a large 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:13.560 group of defense attorneys. He listened intently and took notes. 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:17.039 If you didn't go in knowing he was on trial 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:19.600 for murder, you might think he was one of the lawyers. 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:25.040 Well, he certainly doesn't seem, you know, sad. The way 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:27.760 he walks in, he struts in, I mean he always 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:31.440 struts in, you know, kind of confident of himself. 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:35.880 This is Paul Kroda, a seasoned photojournalist in the Bay Area. 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:39.240 He took photos of Nima showing up at his arrayment 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:43.240 with his chest puffed out and arms swinging. He also 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:45.199 took photos of Nima in his jail cell. 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:48.960 When I met him in jail, Yeah, he was upbeat, 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:52.960 a bat attitude. You know. He poses for me in 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:56.080 the jail cell, and he gave me several different looks. 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.680 He's almost proud to be him, you know, even though 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:02.480 what he did. You know, he's proud to be him. 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:06.080 The New York Post published these photos under the headline 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:10.680 quote bone chilling photos show cash app founder Bob Lee's 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:15.639 allege killer Nima MOMENTI smiling in jail. By the way, 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:18.560 Nima has sued the photographer and the New York Post, 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:22.880 among other outlets that published these photos. As of this recording, 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:32.200 that lawsuit is still pending. For the first year and 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:36.760 a half, that smile, that strut were the only insights 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:39.080 we had into how Nima felt about any of this. 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:42.720 He never gave a statement. He also turned on my 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:47.639 request for an interview. Here's omit to lie. The lead prosecutor. 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:50.680 Prior to his arrest. As dramatic as it might sound. 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:55.240 Is when I personally started preparing for this as a 0:02:55.240 --> 0:03:01.000 self defense case and for my cross examination of this 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:05.359 lying story. He would tell where he had to defend himself. 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.520 How did you know that there's only two defenses? Really 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:14.440 who done it? The other defense is self defense. Knowing 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:20.000 that we had him driving Bob under the bridge and 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:23.440 as the last person with him, he wasn't going to 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:26.720 be able to claim somebody else committed this crime. He 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:29.520 was going to have to claim, yes, I stabbed him, 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:31.160 but I did so because I was in fear of 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:32.600 my own safety. 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:37.760 The evidence was stacked against Nima. After the police found 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:41.280 Bob bleeding out on the sidewalk, they followed a trail 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:44.080 of blood to the murder weapon, a kitchen knife that 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:48.920 had been tossed over a fence. When investigators tested the knife, 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:52.040 they found Bob's DNA on the blade and Nima's on 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:55.880 the handle. The brand of the knife also matched a 0:03:55.960 --> 0:04:00.680 set from Kazar's kitchen. Then there was all the video 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:06.080 video of Bob and Nima leaving the apartment together, of 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:10.000 Bob climbing into Nina's car, of the car pulling into 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:13.200 an empty lot under the Bay bridge, of the car 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:16.359 speeding off from the scene of the crime of Bob 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:23.320 stumbling away before collapsing. I mean it was a lot. 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:29.440 The prosecution charged Nima with first degree murder. They argued 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:32.839 that by driving Bob to a secluded location and bringing 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:38.120 a knife with him, Nima showed premeditation. If they convicted 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:40.360 Nima a murder one, they would be able to put 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:49.919 him away for twenty six years. It looked to many 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:51.880 like it should have been a pretty straightforward case. 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:53.640 This should have been a three week trial. 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:56.480 This is Brad Cohen, one of Nima's defense attorneys. 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:59.960 It was ridiculous. This was the crazy case. I thought that, 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:03.719 and it was off the rails, and I think that 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:05.400 this should have been a three week trial that turned 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:06.440 into a three month trial. 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:11.360 The trial of Nima, MOMENTI was anything but a straightforward proceeding. 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:15.240 The jury heard from a parade of unreliable narrators, their 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:19.400 stories filled with frustrating plot holes. They followed twists and turns. 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:23.880 They watched not one but two secret videos. There were 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:27.080 salacious details about drug use and around the clock partying. 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:32.000 It became a media circus. Here's lead prosecutor omit to lie. 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:38.840 I felt it from the first day in court at 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:42.480 the arraignment, when I was walking through to see reporters 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:46.360 trying to get into the courtroom, where I couldn't really 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:49.840 get out of the courtroom because reporters were blocking the exit. 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:55.400 Despite the international attention, almost nothing has been reported about 0:05:55.400 --> 0:05:57.880 the people who would ultimately decide Nima's fate. 0:05:58.800 --> 0:05:59.320 The jury. 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:04.520 The jurors included a restaurant owner, a costco greeterer, a 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:08.440 Harvard graduate. A few of them worked in tech. One 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:11.400 of them was knowledgeable about drugs and had colorful stories. 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:15.320 San Francisco is a small town, so I've run into 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:17.920 a few of them out and about, and I've been 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:22.240 surprised when I've approached them that they seem so standoffish, 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:27.480 almost scared. It turns out the jury made a pact 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:31.680 not to say anything to the press, so until now 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.640 we haven't known what mattered to them at the trial. 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:38.280 At what points did they say, Oh, this seems good 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:42.080 for Nima, or oh, this seems very bad for Nima. 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:46.400 But now, for the first time, one of the jurors 0:06:46.440 --> 0:06:52.240 spoke to me anonymously. So on today's episode, we're going 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:56.080 to walk through the trial of Nima. MOMENTI we'll focus 0:06:56.120 --> 0:07:00.960 on four key components, two testimonies and two pieces of evidence. 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:05.040 These were some of the most dramatic moments of the trial, 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:08.560 and I think they'll help you understand what it was 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:11.960 the jury was being asked to consider and will ultimately 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:16.120 matter to them. We'll hear from the prosecution and the 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:19.640 defense team will get the official narrative of how Bob 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:23.239 Lee died, and we'll try to understand why he died, 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:26.800 what his accused killer may have been thinking, and what 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:30.800 this trial meant for San Francisco. I'm sean when and 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:54.720 this is foundering the killing of Bob Lee. One of 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:58.200 the most frustrating things about Bobley's death is that the 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:02.520 supposed inciting incident, the thing that prosecutors would claim got 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:06.120 Nima so mad, was a very specific moment that neither 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:10.000 Nima nor Bob was actually present for. Let me explain. 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:14.360 It was the last day Bob was alive, April third, 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:17.880 twenty twenty three. Bob and Kazar spent a lot of 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:22.320 time together that day, from morning till night, along with 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:25.920 another guy, Bob's friend, an alleged drug dealer. His name 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:30.240 is Jeremy Boyven. Jeremy Boyven declined to be interviewed for 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:34.400 this podcast, but I want you to remember him because 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:39.320 he'll be an important figure later on. It's three in 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:42.520 the afternoon and they're all hanging out at Boyven's apartment, 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:45.959 which is in a luxury high rise. There are lots 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:49.080 of drugs around, and Kazar is taking several of them. 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:52.640 On April third, the day before Bob Leae's death, she 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:56.559 was under the influence of cocaine nitrous oxide also known 0:08:56.600 --> 0:08:59.600 as whippets, as well as LSD and GHB. 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:03.640 I just want to point out this is a Monday afternoon. 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:07.800 At around five pm, Bob heads out, leaving Kazar and 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:14.360 jeremy boyfriend behind. Hours pass that night, around nine pm, 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:19.160 Bob gets a call. It's Kazar's brother Nima. He's upset. 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:23.280 We mentioned this phone call in the previous episode. Nima 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:27.360 was interrogating Bob, asking questions like, what were you guys doing, 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:29.200 What was going on with my sister? 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:30.280 What did she take? 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:35.560 How about the girls getting naked? Later, Bob's friend, who 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:39.000 had overheard the call, testified on the witness stand. He 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:42.960 said it was really strange, we weren't there, and the 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:46.199 idea that it was girls getting naked was so far 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:49.760 from the vibe and situation that I saw and experienced. 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:52.720 Here's Prosecutor Dane Reinstead. 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:56.559 The murder was not a question of what it actually 0:09:56.600 --> 0:10:00.439 happened to Jeremy boyfriend's apartment. That's maybe this subject of 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:06.400 another criminal case. But what mattered for purposes of our 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:09.720 case and our trial was what Nemo MoManI thought had 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:11.360 happened in Jeremy Boyfn's apartment. 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:17.600 It appears that after Bob left Boyven's apartment, Kazar had 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:21.880 a girlfriend join her. Jeremy Boyven served them both GHB, 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:25.880 the so called date rape drug, which they drank voluntarily. 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:29.679 Kazar said that he described it to her as ecstasy 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:33.600 that last fifteen minutes, so she took three shots of it, 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:39.040 then she passed out. When she came to, she was 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:42.440 upset and confused. She suspected that she may have been 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:46.360 sexually assaulted. The details of the alleged assault are fuzzy. 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:51.120 She testified herself that she was very unclear on the details. 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:52.920 That at one point she woke up and her pants 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:55.800 were part way pulled down. She believed she'd been sexually assaulted, 0:10:57.040 --> 0:10:59.920 but I think she herself because of her lack of 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:03.400 consciousness or hazy memory around it didn't know exactly what 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:03.920 had happened. 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:08.520 In some text messages, Nima refers to what happened to 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:12.120 Kazar as rape, and he may have thought that Bob 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:17.760 was involved, because remember, Nima wasn't there. He couldn't have 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:21.000 known what time Bob left the party or when exactly 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:26.400 his sister took JHB. After Nima and Bob spoke on 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:29.600 the phone, Bob said Nima a text inviting him to 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:34.480 a strip club. At twelve thirty am, two hours before 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:38.439 the stabbing, Bob heads over to Kazar's apartment in Millennium Tower. 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:45.679 At two am. Bob is seen on camera leaving with Nima. 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:51.040 About half an hour later, Bob was dying on the street. 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:53.680 What the hell happened here? 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.959 This is Brad Cohen, one of Nima's defense attorneys. 0:11:57.280 --> 0:12:00.400 These guys are getting along, they're two good buddies in 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:03.120 the elevator. They look like they're having fun. They're talking 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:05.679 to each other, they're laughing. The guy's saying, hey, do 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:07.400 you want to go to a strip joint? And the 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:11.559 next thing in thirty minutes later, someone's stabbed and dead 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:14.000 and the other guy's getting charged. 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:18.600 The footage of the actual stabbing is very hard to see. 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:22.520 It's dark and grainy, taken from a nest camera in 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:27.440 a nearby apartment window. Bob and Nima are just pixelated blobs. 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:32.400 Bob is wearing black and Nima is wearing white. You 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:36.000 can see them standing around for several minutes, and then 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:39.520 very quickly, the figure in white advances three or four 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:43.200 times towards the figure in black. It's just a few 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:47.600 quick movements. This is the best glimpse we get into 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:51.680 the altercation between the two men. It leaves room for 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:53.479 some ambiguity. 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:55.599 Self defense looked plausible. 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:01.439 Cohen, it should be said, is a high profile attorney 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:06.680 known especially for representing hip hop artists. He's obtained federal 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:09.800 pardons for Lol Wayne and Kodak Black from President Trump, 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:14.160 whom he's also represented. They actually go pretty far back. 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:17.760 Here's Cohen competing on season two of The Apprentice. 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:19.840 My plan backfired. 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:22.680 Mister Trump thought that that was a stupid decision. 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:24.560 I was the only individual who went to the board 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:25.520 when without a bag. 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:30.119 Nima was in fact represented by five lawyers, a testament 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:34.720 to how seriously his family took this case. The defense 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:38.280 argued that Bob was sleep deprived and on cocaine, which 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:41.800 made him a radic. They said that Bob pulled a 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:45.199 knife on Nima, but Nima grabbed Bob's hand with the 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:48.160 knife still in it, and redirected it back towards Bob. 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:52.800 Because Nima MoManI had killed the only witness, there wasn't 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:55.240 somebody who could say exactly what happened. 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:58.720 These are the prosecutors. Again, did self defense ever feel 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:00.000 plausible to you? 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:06.280 Um plause? Like, did I believe it might be self defense? 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:07.760 Is that you're asking like that? 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:09.000 Yeah? 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:09.360 No. 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:14.760 While the DNA on the knife and the security footage 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:18.120 suggests that Nima killed Bob, it still leaves open the 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:20.960 very big question why here's Cohen? 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:25.720 I think that the state had no motive. They were scrambling. 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:29.640 They knew that self defense was definitely an issue here 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:33.120 because these two guys are getting along in the elevator. 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:37.160 There's no real fight between them. Nobody's arguing, No one 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:39.600 testified there was this big fight, big blowout. 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:46.040 The juror I spoke to said that at the start 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:49.520 of the trial, the entire jury was confused about the motive. 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:52.440 They said, none of us could agree. Why the hell 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:56.040 Nima would kill Bob. Why wouldn't you kill Jeremy. That's 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:58.680 the guy your sister said raped her. Why go after 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:00.440 Bob when he wasn't even there. 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:04.400 Jeremy Boyven has not been charged with sexually assaulting Kazar, 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:07.760 and as a reminder, he declined to be interviewed for 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:11.800 this podcast. Whether or not they knew it, the state 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:15.320 had an uphill battle ahead of them. Can you tell 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:15.880 me what you. 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:21.400 See the motive as to me, it's not convoluted at all. 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:23.560 I think it's very simple. 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:25.880 Oh me to lie again. The lead prosecutor on. 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:32.880 The case, Nima Momeni, believes Bob Lee contributed to his 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:37.640 little sister being sexually assaulted or raped, and that pissed 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:41.280 him off. That made him angry, That made him act 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:46.760 as one would when they are pissed off and angry. 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:49.520 That's the motive for to lie. 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:52.720 There was no shortage of evidence pointing towards Nima as 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:53.359 the aggressor. 0:15:54.280 --> 0:16:00.000 It was him driving bobly to the location, him clearly 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:04.840 being the last person with Bob, and the text messages 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:09.680 from Kazar to Bob where she said that her brother 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:13.400 came down very hard on Bob and that he handled 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:14.760 himself with class. 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:17.960 Which brings us to the first of our four key 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:22.880 components of the trial, the testimony of Nima's sister, Kazar MOMENTI. 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:28.240 For the Press, Kazar was the star of the show. 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:32.280 She was cast as a glamorous van fetale who somehow 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:34.080 drove her brother to kill Bob. 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:40.440 Somehow, everyone in this trial seems like they're made from TV. 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:44.120 This is a photographer, Jong Hoo Kim, who I met 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:47.360 in the courthouse. Specifically, he had been asked to take 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:50.200 photos of Kazar. Can you say which outlet sent you 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:50.640 out there? 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:54.880 I was working for Zuma Press with the photos going 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:55.520 to the New. 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:59.520 York Post, okay? And what kind of photos were they 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:00.400 asking you get? 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:06.320 In this particular case, the specific quest was for full 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:13.440 body photos of Kazar. MOMENTI why full body glamour. 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:20.280 The first day of Kazar's testimony, she showed up to 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:25.720 court wearing oversized sunglasses, stiletto pumps, and the perfectly tailored 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:28.879 blue silk dress. The Daily Mail said it was Valentino. 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:32.040 A source close to Nima's defense team told me that 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:35.480 from Nima's arrest onward, the family was instructed to dress 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:38.399 like they were attending a funeral, Kazar dress like she 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:39.760 was going to a movie premiere. 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:44.880 A lot of the media has focused on her as 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:49.960 an interesting character because visually there's a lot to work 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:54.280 with there, and I think in terms of her testimony, 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:58.760 it's become quite drama filled and salacious. 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:00.639 Out to the latest out of Sam Francisco. 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:02.840 In day four of testimony and the murder trial for 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:07.600 tech executive and cash app founder Bob Lee. 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.399 Kazar was there to support her brother, that much was clear, 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:15.080 but she was also a critical witness for the prosecution 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:19.520 since her testimony could provide a motive. Here's Omit Lai, 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:21.240 the lead prosecutor on this case. 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:27.200 She set this emotion. She told her brother things happened 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:31.320 to her. Those things upset her brother. She's not to 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:36.439 blame for Bob being killed. It's nima MOMENTI but she, 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:39.240 in my mind, set this all in motion. 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:45.520 But she was an uncooperative witness leading up to the trial. 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:48.760 She refused to speak with the authorities. Here's the other prosecutor, 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:50.119 Dan Rihinstead. 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:53.119 She had declined to ever speak with us. She had 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:55.639 declined to speak with the police. It meant that to 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:58.840 a large extent, we were going in blind as to 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:01.120 what exactly was she was going to say. 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:05.479 Huzzar MOMENTI was soft spoken. Initially. She placed her clutch 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:08.280 and some oversized sunglasses on the witness stand. 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:11.960 Cameras and recording devices were banned from the courtroom, so 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:14.000 I have a voice actor reading the transcript. 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:19.679 Prosecution, have you followed the news, Cuzar, I've stopped watching 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:23.320 the news. Prosecution, have you heard the claim that your 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:25.760 brother killed Bob Lee but in self defense? 0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:28.800 Czar? I have stopped watching the news. 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:34.840 I remember asking her at the very beginning, when was 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:36.399 it that you first found out that your brother was 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:38.520 the one that killed Bob? And that was the answer 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:41.040 to which she said, well, my brother wasn't the one 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:41.720 who killed Bob. 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:47.080 Prosecution, are you learning today for the first time that 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:51.040 your brother has killed Bob Kazar? My brother has not 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:53.600 killed Bob Lee, and I don't know anything else about 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:54.040 the case. 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:57.639 By that point, it had been clearly telegraphed that it 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:00.280 was a self defense claim and that Nemo was in 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:01.679 fact the one that he had killed Bob. It was 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:04.959 just a matter of how he had killed him, and 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:08.719 the fact that she appeared not to be up to speed. 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:11.800 With that being the narrative that the defense was putting 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:15.640 forward was surprising, not the answer I expected. 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:21.160 The back and forth between Rhinestead and Kazar continues this way. 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:25.040 It's repetitive and evasive. She says more than once that 0:20:25.119 --> 0:20:28.359 she knows nothing and remembers little, blaming the cocktail of 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:29.159 drugs she was on. 0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:33.199 Prosecution, was your brother also doing cocaine with you? 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:34.280 Kazar? 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:38.880 I did not see him do any Prosecution you texted 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:42.040 him no, bitch. Blow messed up your mind and makes 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:45.760 you act lunatic. Kazar, I don't know why I sent 0:20:45.800 --> 0:20:51.119 that text message. Prosecution reading her text rape case, Nima, 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:56.119 you're fucking psychotic. No one enjoys that company. You scare me, Kazar. 0:20:56.800 --> 0:20:59.399 We're brother and sister. We bigger when we talk. I 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:00.760 have no idea what this is about. 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:09.960 The other reason the prosecution needed Kazar was that she 0:21:10.080 --> 0:21:15.200 sent several potentially incriminating text messages shortly after Bob was killed, 0:21:15.560 --> 0:21:19.480 including texting Bob, sorry, Nima came down way hard on you, 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:23.520 and texting Nima, Nima, you scare me. Sometimes. 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:29.000 Kazar was a hostile witness to us, certainly, but one 0:21:29.080 --> 0:21:31.600 that we affirmatively wanted to put on in our case, 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:34.760 primarily to authenticate the text messages that she had sent, 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:37.879 but also to provide some of the context and color 0:21:37.960 --> 0:21:40.320 around what had happened leading up to the murder. 0:21:40.680 --> 0:21:44.920 What Dane did with Kazar, and really within the first 0:21:45.000 --> 0:21:47.560 ten to fifteen minutes while I'm sitting there, I'm a 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:51.880 spectator like everyone else. That was one of the few 0:21:51.960 --> 0:21:56.680 moments that I thought, I think, I think we're fine. 0:21:56.920 --> 0:22:00.840 Not only did he so calmly and methodically, kind of 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:04.040 surgically take her apart and get all those text messages 0:22:04.080 --> 0:22:08.639 that we wanted in the defense looked like their heads 0:22:08.640 --> 0:22:10.879 were going to explode. 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:13.200 Listen, she testified the way she testified. 0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:15.400 Brad Cohen again from the defense team. 0:22:15.280 --> 0:22:17.560 Oh, she's going to answer everything for the defense and 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:19.520 nothing for the state. Well, it's her brother. 0:22:20.359 --> 0:22:22.800 A source close to the defense told me that after 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:25.840 Kazar's testimony, because she turned out to be such an 0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:31.240 unreliable witness, Nima's lawyers distanced themselves from her. After her 0:22:31.240 --> 0:22:34.399 three days on the witness stand, we didn't see Kazar again, 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:40.520 not even on the day of the verdict. So the 0:22:40.560 --> 0:22:44.679 first key component of the trial, Kazar's testimony seemingly not 0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:48.240 helpful to Nima, which brings us to our second key component, 0:22:48.840 --> 0:22:55.840 a secret video recording made by the cops. The prosecution 0:22:56.040 --> 0:22:59.200 wanted the jury to pay attention to Nima's behavior after 0:22:59.280 --> 0:23:03.800 the stabbing, and for this they introduced new evidence, a 0:23:03.880 --> 0:23:07.040 video of Nima made six days after Bob was killed, 0:23:07.200 --> 0:23:10.920 but before Nima was arrested Ohmed to lie. The lead 0:23:11.000 --> 0:23:13.760 prosecutor was at the police station when he saw it 0:23:13.800 --> 0:23:14.600 for the first time. 0:23:15.040 --> 0:23:21.120 I remember Sergeant Goff calling saying, Hey, I'm headed back 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:22.679 from South Bay. You got to see this. 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:27.600 Sergeant David Goff is an undercover cop who had been 0:23:27.640 --> 0:23:31.359 following Nima since the day after Bob was killed. GoF 0:23:31.440 --> 0:23:34.920 had recorded something he wanted to show the prosecutors, and. 0:23:34.840 --> 0:23:37.479 He wouldn't even really explain it to us. He just 0:23:37.520 --> 0:23:42.840 wanted us to see it. The homicide inspectors do not 0:23:43.040 --> 0:23:45.399 have these fancy offices. They're all kind of in cubes, 0:23:45.520 --> 0:23:48.359 cubicles next to each other. So we were standing and 0:23:49.280 --> 0:23:53.520 Sergeant Goff put in the video and we just pressed 0:23:53.520 --> 0:23:55.320 play and you kind of, I think a couple of 0:23:55.320 --> 0:23:58.280 times says he said, just wait, just wait, like just 0:23:58.280 --> 0:23:59.360 just wait for it. Wait for it. 0:24:02.119 --> 0:24:05.720 That day Goth followed Nima from a sandwich shop to 0:24:05.760 --> 0:24:08.840 a parking lot, which happened to be at his criminal 0:24:08.840 --> 0:24:13.440 defense attorney's office. He filmed Nima standing there chatting with 0:24:13.480 --> 0:24:17.080 a private investigator who worked for his attorney. In the video, 0:24:17.320 --> 0:24:22.160 Nima's talking, talking, smoking a cigarette, and then he makes 0:24:22.280 --> 0:24:27.320 three quick horizontal jabbing motions. Then he seems to mimic 0:24:27.400 --> 0:24:31.960 throwing something in the air. His gestures map onto the 0:24:32.000 --> 0:24:36.520 evidence pretty neatly. Bob was indeed stabbed three times, and 0:24:36.600 --> 0:24:39.000 the knife was tossed to the other side of a fence. 0:24:40.440 --> 0:24:43.639 I think I laughed inside, you know, thinking like this 0:24:43.880 --> 0:24:48.480 is absurd. I have never, and probably never will see 0:24:49.359 --> 0:24:53.879 a murderer re enacting the crime that he had committed 0:24:54.080 --> 0:24:58.880 a few days before, on a bright sunny day in public, 0:24:59.480 --> 0:25:01.240 and then throw the murder weapon. 0:25:01.840 --> 0:25:04.880 And I think equally important is what he's not showing, right. 0:25:04.960 --> 0:25:07.760 He doesn't reenact any kind of a struggle. He doesn't 0:25:07.760 --> 0:25:12.840 reenact any sort of washine or a redirecting in any way. 0:25:13.200 --> 0:25:16.479 In other words, Nima's movements on the video don't resemble 0:25:16.480 --> 0:25:20.960 a struggle where he's defending himself. The jury member I 0:25:20.960 --> 0:25:23.679 spoke to told me that in the deliberation room. They 0:25:23.720 --> 0:25:27.280