Lawyers for Bob Lee’s accused killer are resting their case

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Nima Momeni’s attorneys called their last witness and rested their case Tuesday afternoon. The San Francisco jurors breathed a sigh of relief as the judge repeated, “Let that sink in, that’s what he said, the defense rests. I think you deserve a day and a half off.

Momeni, 40, of Emeryville, is accused of killing Cash App founder Bob Lee on April 4, 2023, in revenge for his sister Khazar, prosecutors said.

The jury returns to the courtroom on Thursday, where prosecutors will call four more witnesses for their rebuttal. Those witnesses will be: Lauren Fewer, Carlos Whitt and two SFPD officers.

Earlier in the trial, Khazar testified that she was sexually assaulted by Lee’s drug dealer the day before the murder. Prosecutors said Momeni plotted to kill Lee because he was furious about what happened to his sister and suspicious of Lee’s “inappropriate” relationship with her.

Momeni testified on the stand for three days. He told jurors he was making a “bad joke.” about Lee hanging out at strip clubs instead of with his family. Lee “exploded” over the prank and attacked Momeni with a knife, the accused killer testified.

Momeni testified: ‘I made a bad joke. I said if it was my last night in town, I would hang out with my family instead of hanging out at strip clubs. It turned him off. It just exploded in front of my eyes. He went from zero to a hundred.” Momeni said he fought back in self-defense, and he didn’t call 911 because he had no idea Lee was injured during their altercation under the Bay Bridge.

Lee’s brother, Timothy Lee, told reporters that Momeni took the position of “rewriting history” and “making up lies.” Timothy Lee said, “We only see Nima telling his story. Unfortunately, (the jury) can’t hear Bob’s side of the story, and they can’t see from the courtroom who Bob was.

Bob Lee was stabbed three times, including a fatal blow through the heart. He left a trail of blood on Main Street as he called 911 and desperately searched for someone to help him.

On Tuesday, attorneys brought their last two witnesses to the courtroom: computer programmer Mark Sieden and former San Francisco police officer Steven Pomatto.

Sieden analyzed call logs and message logs taken from Lee’s cell phone. He focused on the period between April 1, 2023 and when Lee called 911 on April 4, 2023. Sieden never discussed the content of Lee’s messages nor the meaning of his phone calls.

Earlier in the trial, however, prosecutors said Khazar sent a revealing text message to Lee on April 4, 2023. She wrote the message just hours after Lee was killed, and before she knew he was dead. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. Because I know Nima came at you very hard,” Khazar wrote to Lee.

Pomatto was paid more than $12,000 to testify for the defense as an expert witness in teaching self-defense tactics and evaluating knife wounds. Pomatto repeatedly told the jury that he believes Lee attacked first, and that Momeni redirected the knife in self-defense.

Assistant District Attorney Omid Talai questioned Pomatto’s credibility during cross-examination. Talai said all of Pomatto’s testimony was speculation. ‘You clearly weren’t there. You have no idea what happened,” Talai claimed.

The prosecutor criticized the ex-officer for an incident at the San Francisco Police Department when he allegedly told other officers that he had served in the military as a Navy SEAL. Pomatto, who served in the U.S. Navy but never became a Navy SEAL, denied the accusation. “I was deployed in the Gulf War. I worked with Navy SEALS, I find it disrespectful for you to question my service,” the ex-officer testified.

Talai said a police officer lying about his experiences in the military is one of the most “shameful” things an officer can do. Pomatto said he agreed, but he never lied about being a Navy SEAL.

Two witnesses scheduled to testify during the prosecution’s rebuttal Thursday are senior SFPD officers. Talai said those officers will confirm that Pomatto posed as a fake Navy SEAL while he was an officer in the SFPD.

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