The prosecution began presenting rebuttal witnesses Thursday in the trial of Nima Momeni, several of them friends and co-workers of Bob Lee who had seen him doing recreational drugs on multiple occasions.
After the defense rested its case Tuesday in the trial of Nima Momeni, the trial resumed Thursday with prosecutors calling rebuttal witnesses who were speaking to Bob Lee's character, and rebutting some testimony by a former SFPD officer who did not work on the case.
As KTVU reports, the first witness called Thursday morning was Kristina Champion, a friend and co-worker of Bob Lee. Champion reportedly said she had frequently hung out with Lee socially, and she had seen him doing cocaine, ketamine, and acid — as is the wont of a certain segment of Silicon Valley types.
Champion was the first of several rebuttal witnesses to state unequivocally that they had never seen Lee turn angry or act aggressively, contrary to the defense's theory of the case that it was Lee, and not Momeni, who left Khazar Momeni's condo with one of her kitchen knives in their pocket.
The defense wants the jury to believe that Lee would take this premeditated step without any clear motive, and that in a "flash of aggression" brought on by drugs, Lee pulled out the knife to attack Momeni, instead of the other way around, after Momeni made an odd "joke" about who he should be spending more time with his kids while in town.
Per KTVU, the next witness on the stand today was Carlos Whitt, another former co-worker and friend who similarly had seen Lee doing multiple recreational drugs, and never becoming aggressive or violent.
"He's kind of like a teddy bear," Whitt said, per KTVU. "He's incredibly affectionate, incredibly sweet, he likes to talk highly about his friends, he loves to have deep conversations, so all of those qualities are enhanced."
A third friend of Lee's, Lauren Weiniger, testified Thursday afternoon and made similar statements.
Also Thursday, the prosecution called SFPD Captain Brien Hoo to the stand to discredit the defense's witness from Monday, retired SFPD Inspector Steven Pomatto. The prosecution is seeking to discredit Pomatto, who as a paid expert testified that Lee's wounds could have come from a self-defense maneuver by Momeni.
Hoo testified, per KTVU, that Pomatto had told him in 2004 that he had been a Navy SEAL — something that was apparently a lie, and that Pomatto later denied telling people. Hoo further noted that Pomatto's poor shooting skills and inept handling of a weapon "clearly showed to me he was not a Navy SEAL."
Mission Local noted that, after Pomatto's testimony Monday, Lee's outspoken ex-wife Krista Lee couldn't help but make another comment to reporters outside the courtroom, saying, "You’d have to be higher than Khazar Momeni to believe any of that!"
Closing arguments in the trial are expected to begin the week of December 2, after Thankgiving Week, which is when the trial will now resume.
Previously: Defense Rests In Bob Lee Murder Trial, Rebuttal Begins