The man accused of killing CashApp founder Bob Lee in San Francisco was back in court Thursday, where his attorney blasted the publication of a photo taken of the defendant behind bars.
Nima Momeni has been charged with murder in the stabbing death of 43-year-old Lee in the early morning hours of April 4. Momeni has pleaded not guilty.
Thursday's hearing was intended for setting a trial date, but instead, Momeni's defense team motioned for a change of venue, saying there's no way their client can get a fair trial in San Francisco.
"Listen, in my 25 years and in Brad's 27 years, no one's ever seen anything like this," said attorney Saam Zangeneh. "And it, unfortunately, taken an extremely negative position on where this case is going."
The published photo of Momeni in county jail, where he is being held without bail, is the major issue. The photo was taken by a freelance photographer and published by the SF Standard, and Momeni's lawyer blasted the publisher and threatened legal action.
"You want a fair and impartial jury," said another attorney for Moment, Bradford Cohen. "You want a fair and impartial system. And what they did made this not a fair an impartial system."
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The judge called on the San Francisco Sheriff's Office to launch an internal investigation into how the photographer gained access.
The sheriff's office responded with a statement which read, in part: 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."
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The San Francisco District Attorney's Office said it will reply to the change of venue motion in writing.
