Nima Momeni, the man who was convicted last fall in the 2023 murder of tech entrepreneur Bob Lee, is still awaiting sentencing, and he has new lawyers who are discussing an appeal.
It's now been six months since Nima Momeni was found guilty of second-degree murder in the April 2023 stabbing death of Bob Lee. The jury appeared to settle on the second-degree verdict because the prosecution could prove that Momeni committed the crime and acted recklessly, but they could not necessarily prove that Momeni's intent was to kill, rather than just injure and punish Lee for mistreating his sister.
Lee died after being stabbed three times, once to the heart, and left to fend for himself in SoMa.
The jury was not convinced of the defense's fairly flimsy theory that Lee had taken the kitchen knife out of Momeni's sister's apartment and, in a drug-fueled rage, attacked Momeni, who then turned the knife back on him.
It seemed clear that Momeni's Miami-based lead defense attorney, Saam Zangeneh, would not likely continue in any future phases of Momeni's case. And now, as KPIX reports, we learn that Momeni has hired new lawyers, the San Francisco-based team of Daniel Shriro and Boris Bindman.
Momeni made a court appearance Wednesday morning, several weeks after what was originally supposed to be his sentencing date of May 16. Per KPIX, the hearing was intended to set a new sentencing timeframe to give the new attorneys time to be read in on the case.
Judge Alexandra Robert Gordon reportedly said that she did not want the sentencing to be delayed "unnecessarily," and instructed the new attorneys to get themselves up to speed quickly. A new hearing date was set for August 22.
Shriro gave a statement to the media about Momeni's mindset, saying, "He is anxious to get through with this process and move on to the next stage." Shriro added, "There are good reasons to believe that there are problems with the trial that compromised the fairness of the proceedings and we're going to address those going forward."
Momeni faces a sentence of 16 years to life.
He also faces a pending civil trial, after Lee's family filed a wrongful death suit against Momeni and his family members in April. The suit alleges negligence and conspiracy to hide or cover up evidence on the part of Momeni's sister, brother-in-law, and mother — with some discussion of missing cellphones that came up during the trial. The suit also names a condo development, the Portside II at 403 Main Street, and its security firm, alleging emotional distress, because they released surveillance video of Lee's dying moments to the media without the family's consent.
The British tabloid The Daily Mail was the first to release the footage, just two days after Lee's death, which prompted many, including Elon Musk, to jump to the conclusion that Lee had been stabbed by a stranger on the crime-ridden streets of SF.
Previously: Family of Bob Lee Sues Momeni Family For Cover-Up, and Condo Building For Releasing Post-Stabbing Footage
Top image: Momeni appearing in court in May 2023. Photo by Paul Kuroda-Pool/Getty Images