Cindy Ord/WireImage Rapper ASAP Rocky's shooting trial just started, and lawyers are already weighing the potential influence his longtime partner Rihanna could have over the proceedings. On Thursday,

Prosecutors began laying out their case Friday against hip-hop star ASAP Rocky, aka Rakim Mayers, in a 2021 shooting incident in Hollywood. If convicted, Mayers faces nearly 20 years in prison.

ASAP Rocky appeared at a Los Angeles courthouse on Tuesday (Jan. 21) as jury selection began in his criminal assault trial. The 35-year-old artist, born Rakim Mayers, is facing two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm stemming from an alleged altercation in Nov. 2021.

The outlet claims Rocky’s plea deal consisted of three years of probation, a seven-year suspended prison sentence, and 180 days served in county jail, if plead guilty to one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Instead, Rocky wants to present his defense.

Rakim Mayers, better known as the rapper ASAP Rocky, will headline the Rolling Loud festival and serve as a chair of the Met Gala this year — as long as he dodges a conviction at his trial for a 2021 Hollywood shooting.

A$AP Rocky appeared in court on Friday as the 36-year-old rapper's trial on assault charges got underway in Los Angeles, California.

Rocky’s lawyer thinks ASAP Relli, born Terell Ephron, is in it for the cash. On Friday (Jan. 24), during opening statements in his gun assault trial, defense attorney Joseph Tacopina claimed the bullets fired during the incident were just “warning shots.