Jury selection is underway in the trial of Nima Momeni, the man accused of killing tech executive Bob Lee in San Francisco last year.
In court on Tuesday, Momeni wore a cream colored suit as he sat with his team of five attorneys. They said they're hoping to find a fair jury out of the pool of about 140 people.
"This is the most important part of the case," said Saam Zangeneh, Momeni's lead attorney. "We want people that are going to be able to be fair and impartial, that are going to listen to the evidence and follow the rules. That's all you can ask for."
Momeni’s attorneys tried earlier to move the trial out of San Francisco, saying Lee was too famous. They argued it might be impossible to seat an unbiased jury.
The judge did ask the jury pool Tuesday if they had heard about the case. Many of the potential jurors did raise their hands, indicating they had heard about it. But when asked specific questions about how much they had heard about it, most of them said they only read or watched stories about it in passing when it happened.
In April 2023, Lee, founder of Cash App, was found by emergency crews bleeding outside the Portside apartments on Main Street in San Francisco. He had been stabbed three times and called 911 himself.
Momeni was arrested about a week later. Police said security camera video shows Lee and Momeni together in the hours leading up to Lee's stabbing. Among those places was the Millennium Tower, where Momeni's sister, Kazar, lives.
In pre-trial arguments Monday, Momeni's team had discussed the possibility of putting together some kind of animation if Momeni takes the stand in his own defense but wouldn't talk more about it afterwards.
Jury selection continues through this week. Opening statements could begin next week.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
