The man accused of killing Cash App founder Bob Lee did not have a dispute with Lee the night of his death, defense attorneys said at a Monday hearing, offering a glimpse into their strategy.
Lee, 43, was fatally stabbed in San Francisco's Rincon Hill neighborhood in the predawn hours of April 4. The suspect, tech consultant Nima Momeni, has been charged with murder. Momeni pleaded not guilty in May.
Authorities have said the two men knew each other and were in a car together the night of the killing.
San Francisco District Attorney's office previously released text messages that suggest the two men had an argument the night of the killing.
During a preliminary hearing Monday, Momeni's attorneys argued their client was upset with a different man, who police said was having an affair with Momeni's sister. This man also lived in an apartment that hosted one of two parties Lee attended the night he died.
"Now you're starting to get a different picture," said Momeni's attorney Bradford Cohen after the first day of the hearing. "It wasn't that our client had any kind of argument with Bob Lee. The argument was really with (another man) ... and the fact we're bringing that out today is beneficial towards a future motion or the future trial."
Earlier in the hearing, prosecutors played surveillance video in court that they allege links Momeni to Lee's killing.
The footage shows Lee getting into a white BMW, which prosecutors say Momeni was driving. That car was captured on several other surveillance cameras, including near the location where Lee later collapsed from stab wounds to the heart and lungs.
Prosecutor Omid Talai alleged the white BMW left the scene via the Bay Bridge, heading in the direction of Momeni's home in Emeryville -- a city just north of Oakland. San Francisco Police Department Officer Milad Rashidian took the witness stand and identified Momeni as the resident of the home.
Cohen, Momeni's attorney, argued the videos are grainy and don't create an absolute depiction of the events of that night.
"You really can't make out what's going on, you zoomed in as much as you could, right?" Cohen asked Rashidian, who agreed.
Cohen continued, "When you zoomed in on this, it doesn't enhance it whatsoever, correct?... Some of the videos are limited in time and scope."
"Correct," Rashidian said.
Earlier in the hearing, police crime scene investigator Rosalyn Check testified that a blood trail leading from near where a knife was found matched the direction Lee was seen walking on video as he struggled to find help.
"(The blood) appeared to be getting heavier and more dense" as the trail continued, Check testified. She added that blood evidence was taken from a call box and a tile entryway of a building where Lee tried to get help.
Prosecutors claim the 4-inch kitchen knife was thrown into a fenced-in lot near the crime scene, where it was later recovered.
The defense questioned the responding officers about potential disturbances of the crime scene before police arrived and while officers collected evidence.
Defense attorney Tony Brass told reporters outside the courtroom, "What we're doing right now is setting the scene for what kind of police work was done and what the limits of that police work are."
The hearing will resume Tuesday.
