Thread by @sfstandard

The attorney for Nima Momeni, the accused killer of Bob Lee, told reporters Tuesday that crucial video evidence that prosecutors say shows her client stabbing Bob Lee is unclear.

"He’s gonna plead not guilty," Paula Canny, the attorney, told reporters outside the courtroom.

"I… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Momeni is accused of fatally stabbing tech executive Lee beneath the Bay Bridge in San Francisco in the early hours of April 4 following a dispute involving the suspect’s sister.

Prosecutors allege that video footage taken under the bridge shows the two move close to each other… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Present at Tuesday’s court hearing were Lee’s family members as well as Momeni’s.

Notably absent, however, was his sister, Khazar Momeni, who prosecutors say was at the center of a conflict between Lee and the suspect.

Khazar was not in court this time "partly because it was so… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

"He prays. He prays a lot," Canny said when asked how Momeni was doing.

"Given the many tribulations that the family has experienced it's so weird how life sort of prepares us to deal with horrible stuff," Canny said. "So his past is challenging enough that he is mentally tough… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Canny had told The Standard on Monday that in her team’s investigation of the people involved in the case, a common theme they’d seen was "heavy illegal narcotics use."

But asked if she could "talk about the drug use issues," she said, "No. […] It doesn’t help anybody to talk… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Momeni had been set to enter a plea on Tuesday.

However, Momeni's arraignment was pushed to next Tuesday, May 2, after Canny successfully argued that she needed more time to review discovery in the case. (6/10)
sfstandard.com/criminal-justi…

Canny plans to argue that Momeni should be released rather than held in detention ahead of trial.

However, SF District Attorney @BrookeJenkinsSF said at a press conference after the hearing that she would argue for pretrial detention, saying that Momeni presents a flight risk… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

@BrookeJenkinsSF "We have an individual who stabbed Mr. Lee multiple times, including in his heart. That is about as dangerous as it gets," @BrookeJenkinsSF said.

"And certainly, we believe he should be held in custody without bail." (8/10)

@BrookeJenkinsSF When asked by reporters to respond to Canny’s claim that the video footage wasn’t clear enough to identify Momeni or Lee, Jenkins said, "We do believe that there is video footage connected to this crime and that we believe that we have sufficient evidence to prove beyond a… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Nima Momeni will remain in custody without bail until next week's hearing.

Tap the link below for more coverage of the Bob Lee killing. (10/10)
sfstandard.com/criminal-justi…