The alleged killer of Cash App’s founder has asked a judge to have his trial moved out of the Bay Area, claiming that photos of him in prison would ‘prejudice’ a jury.
The defence lawyers for Nima Momeni, 38, who stands accused of killing Bob Lee in a tragic knife attack in April 2023, filed a motion to move the trial’s venue, claiming that photos published by the San Francisco Standard were ‘so inappropriate and ugly… that we felt compelled that we had to expedite our motion to change venues.’
Lee, who was 43 when he died, was found with multiple stab wounds on the 300 block of Main Street in the ritzy Rincon Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, known for playing host to dozens of high-rise glass buildings.
Though many speculated in the immediate hours after the stabbing that it was a random incident in a city with an increasing violent crime rate, it was later revealed that Lee and Momeni, an IT consultant and entrepreneur who founded a company called Expand IT in 2010, knew each other well.
Lee was sleeping with Momeni’s sister, a married woman called Khazar Elyassnia.
Nima Momeni, 38, (pictured in court on May 18 2023) stands accused of killing Bob Lee in a tragic knife attack in April 2023
Cash App tech mogul Bob Lee (pictured), 43, dubbed ‘Crazy Bob’ was knifed to death in April
Khazar Elyassnia (pictured, centre, in court on May 18 2023) was reportedly sleeping with Bob Lee
Momeni, arrested less than two weeks after Lee died, has been held in a solitary jail cell in San Bruno, and was pictured behind a thick metal and glass door by the San Francisco Standard.
The cell, a small space with a bunkbed, a desk and a metal toilet, was filled with a range of books, including a biography of Napoleon Bonaparte by Andrew Roberts titled ‘Napoleon: a Life’, a book by mythologist Joseph Campbell and a textbook on psychology.
Momeni, wearing an orange prison tracksuit, appeared relaxed in the photos, and was seen crossing his arms and looking confidently into the camera in one snap.
But despite his relaxed demeanour, his lawyers said that potential jurors across San Francisco have been ‘polluted’ by the images, taken by a freelance photographer working for the local newspaper.
The paper’s editor-in-chief Julie Makinen told CBS News Bay Area that Momeni, who risked being deported back to Iran as he is not a US citizen, gave permission for the photos to be taken, and that his legal team was contacted before the photos were published, adding that they did not ‘raise objections or concerns about the publication of the images.’
Lee was later seen in video footage desperately banging on the doors to an apartment complex as he searched for help
The Portside on Main Street, San Francisco where Cash App founder Bob Lee collapsed and died after being fatally stabbed on April 4th
‘A freelance photographer had permission to take photos inside the jail and Nima Momeni gave the photographer permission to have his photo taken.
‘We contacted Momeni’s legal team prior to publication and they did not raise objections or concerns about the publication of the images. The Standard believes the images were entirely newsworthy,’ Makinen added.
But Momeni’s team ‘unequivocally’ said that neither they, nor Momeni authorised the photos.
Defense attorney Bradford Cohen said: ‘They knew that they were purchasing pictures, the cameraman knew not to take those pictures, he was instructed to not take pictures of individuals in those cells yet he did it anyways and the article coupled with those pictures is one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen in a case where the defendant is innocent until proven guilty.’
The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office (SFSO) condemned the photos as well, saying the photographer ‘violated our established media rules, thereby unethically violating the conditions imposed, which were put in place to protect the security and privacy of those incarcerated.’
Khazar Elyassnia supported her accused brother, Nima Momeni, along with several other relatives during a court hearing at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco
Elyassnia is married to a prominent local plastic surgeon, Dr Dino Elyassnia, but was allegedly having a sexual relationship with Lee
It is understood that the photographer was at the jail on a separate assignment for the Los Angeles Times.
The SFSO said that selling the snaps that were separate from the intended visit was a ‘further violation of our media rules and a blatant disregard for the agreed upon conditions.’
‘The SFSO condemns such actions unequivocally, as they compromise the mutual trust between law enforcement agencies and the media, compromising the well-being of incarcerated individuals, and the integrity of information shared with the public,’ said SFSO communications director Tara Moriarty.
Moriarty later said that the photographer who took the photos has been banned from all Bay Area prisons ‘forever.’
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Eric Fleming intended to settle the matter at a hearing on Thursday, but has pushed the decision back to February 22, following several hours of delays.
Prosecutors said, in court documents, that Lee was having an affair Momeni’s sister, a woman called Khazar Elyassnia who is married to a prominent plastic surgeon, Dr Dino Elyassnia.
According to court filings, just a day before Lee died, Momeni confronted him about his relationship with Elyassnia.
Elyassnia later sent Lee a text asking if he was okay after her brother ‘came down hard on [him]’, also thanking him for handling the confrontation ‘with class.’
Lawyer Saam Zangeneh, representing Momeni, argued that his client was not the cold-blooded, premeditated killer depicted by prosecutors
Momeni, wearing orange jail fatigues, whispered, and waved to his sister Khazar Elyassni and mother Mahnaz Momeni, who were sitting about 20 feet behind him in the courtroom in the Hall of Justice in San Francisco
Security footage from the night of the stabbing shows that Momeni and Lee left a building together, getting into Momeni’s BMW at around 2am.
Prosecutors said that Momeni drove to a secluded spot, and stabbed Lee with a four-inch kitchen knife three times, once in the heart.
He then sped away and ‘left [the] victim to slowly die.’
Lee was found around half an hour later by cops, and was taken to a hospital, where doctors spent several hours operating on him in an attempt to save his life.
An autopsy report published in May, Lee had traces of cocaine, ketamine and alcohol in his system, though the coroner said these were not factors in his death.
Acquaintances said he was involved in the highly secretive swingers scene in San Francisco, known as ‘The Lifestyle’, and ‘threw money around like confetti’ and ‘always had gorgeous women around him’.
Lee allegedly attended parties with Elyassnia, and played hard with crowds of partygoers who attended debauched events where swingers and cheaters would gather for drug-fueled sex.
has contacted Momeni’s legal team for comment.