Speaker 1: Opening statements are expected to begin today in the ASAP Rocky trial. The Grammy-nominated rapper is facing two felony charges for allegedly shooting at a former friend, A$AP Relly, during a 2021 confrontation. A$AP Rocky has pleaded not guilty, turning down a plea deal earlier this week. He could face up to 24 years in prison if convicted. Former Florida State Attorney Dave Ehrenberg joins me now for more on this. Dave, thanks for coming on. Some are already taking issue with this trial because there are no black people on this jury. What do you make of that and what else you're learning about this

Speaker 2: jury and how they were selected? Good to be with you, Diane. Yes, it should be a concern. Joe Takapina, the lawyer for A$AP Rocky, has expressed concerns about it. He wanted to take an immediate appeal. The judge said no. After all though, both sides have what you call a peremptory challenges, which means you could strike a juror for any reason, as long as it's not a bad reason, as long as it's not for race. And both sides, the defense and the prosecution, had several peremptory challenges in their pocket. They could have used them. They did not, which makes me think that both sides are actually okay with this jury. Just because there are no black jurors doesn't mean it can't be a fair and impartial jury. They have to be able to set aside their biases and anything they know about this case and just follow the evidence and the law. So even though both sides seem to be posturing about it, it seems like they can get a fair trial in this case.

Speaker 1: Dave, you say this will be a tough case to prove. Why?

Speaker 2: The evidence is kind of weak, Diana, and I'm a former prosecutor. And really what they have is a surveillance video that may or may look like A$AP Rocky in the video. That's going to be key evidence. But they didn't find any shell casings at the scene. In fact, the person who found it was the victim. It wasn't police. The victim came back hours later and said, here they are. So that is a suspect thing because that person has motive to lie. So I just think that this is going to be a tough case because there is no smoking gun. They didn't even find the gun on A$AP Rocky when they searched him or his place. And so this is going to be a circumstantial case with that key video that is not so conclusive. Dave, what are you watching for in opening statements today? You know, I think there's such a power of celebrity that I wonder if they're going to mention if A$AP Rocky will take the stand. If he takes a stand, that could be a game changer because then he has the power to, just through his charm and his magnetism, influence people. I also want to see if the prosecution has more evidence than what we know already. Do they have more than just that surveillance video? Do they have more than the shell casings that were discovered not by police, but by the victim himself? So those are the things I'll be watching

Speaker 1: for, Diane. All right. Former Florida State Attorney General Dave Ehrenberg. Dave, we appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.