Today marked the opening of defense arguments in the trial of Nima Momeni, who is accused of stabbing Cash App founder Bob Lee to death last year. Momeni’s attorneys today called to the stand Greg Hampikian, a DNA expert — who claimed there was a “serious problem” with the DNA on the knife allegedly used to kill Lee.
Hampikian testified that an important footnote was left off the analysis that primarily placed Momeni’s DNA on the handle of the weapon. That footnote would have included the possibility of a false reading.
Momeni is accused of stabbing Bob Lee to death over the perception of allegedly inappropriate behavior with Momeni’s sister, Khazar, earlier that day on April 3, 2023. While Lee did see Momeni’s sister before the stabbing, Momeni’s defense attorneys have attempted to discredit that motive by claiming Momeni only took issue with another man, Jeremy Boivin, for giving drugs to Khazar and purportedly sexually assaulting her.
Perhaps to bolster this argument, or simply to give a sense of the involved parties’ behavior the day before the stabbing, defense attorneys today also called Aranza Villegas. She is a friend of Khazar Momeni, who had seen both Momeni siblings and Boivin the evening before the stabbing.
Another look at DNA
DNA analysis from the handle of the knife, which was found near the scene where Lee was fatally stabbed, had Momeni’s DNA on it. The blade, meanwhile, had Lee’s DNA on it.
Much of Hampikian’s testimony today, however, served to emphasize the variability and uncertainty of DNA evidence. Hampikian, who has extensive experience as a biological sciences professor at Boise State University and founded the Idaho Innocence Project, reportedly helped to exonerate Amanda Knox of murdering her roommate in 2007. He was paid upwards of $12,000 to review evidence and testify in this trial.
“Nothing in a DNA likelihood ratio is an absolute identification of a person,” Hampikian said. “It is information that helps the triers of fact make their own conclusions.”
Prosecutors previously showed the jury the San Francisco crime lab’s analysis of the DNA in this case, but defense attorneys revealed today that prosecutors left off a footnote about possible “false” results.
While Momeni’s DNA was a highly likely match to 99 percent of the DNA on the knife handle, the other 1 percent sample showed a likelihood that fell into a margin of error.
Defense attorney Zoe Aron: And in looking at this chart, you would not understand these results with any degree of accuracy, without that note?
Hampikian: I would misunderstand those results without that, without that note… And I would be misled without the note … you got to warn me that, ‘by the way, in our labs, these numbers have the potential to support a false inclusion or exclusion.’ That’s very important to me.
Hampikian further bolstered earlier testimony from the prosecution’s DNA expert, that DNA can be transferred from one surface to another, and that different people can shed different amounts of DNA.
Defense attorneys, who claim Momeni stabbed Lee in self-defense, have argued that it is impossible to know whether Lee pulled the knife first and simply shed less DNA on it than Momeni.
The police officer who swabbed the knife for DNA did not check for fingerprints, a point that defense attorneys alluded to again today.
Aron: So summarize what you just said. Dna tells us who is there and fingerprints tell us how it got there.
Hampikian: I think they provide a lot of information about the likelihood that somebody contacted something, yes, latent prints do that.
Aron: So they paint a fuller picture of what happened.
Hampikian: If the question is, did my hand touch an object, I would I would go with fingerprints rather than … DNA.
But still, Hampikian said, there was strong support that Momeni’s DNA matched that on the knife handle — 99 percent of it.
Khazar Momeni’s friend
Villegas, though she has known the Momeni siblings for years, said she was not close friends with Khazar and knew Nima Momeni primarily as Khazar’s brother.
She testified today that Khazar was her first friend in San Francisco, and that she went to see her on the Monday afternoon of April 3, 2023 thinking she was headed to a restaurant. Instead, Khazar invited Villegas over to Jeremy Boivin’s home, where the two consumed GHB for the first time.
Defense attorney Saam Zangeneh: Can you tell the members of the jury if he offered you … another type of narcotic?
Villegas: He offer me G.
Zangeneh: And how did he describe what G was?
Villegas: He described it as ecstasy but only lasting 45 minutes.
Zangeneh: And normally I would assume, ecstasy lasts a lot longer?
Villegas: I guess.
During that time, Khazar Momeni has alleged that Boivin, a man she had just met through Lee, sexually assaulted her.
Villegas testified that Khazar had been under the influence of drugs that day, but nothing seemed wrong to her, aside from temporarily feeling ill.
Villegas described taking three shots of GHB, and said the third one was “very bad.” She momentarily passed out, then vomited, and afterwards felt “perfect.” But Khazar Momeni began to cry and called her family, including her brother Nima Momeni, for help.
Zangeneh: Did u see Jeremy do anything inappropriate to Khazar?
Villegas: No
Zangeneh: Would u say that Mr. Boivin was attentive and concerned about Khazar?
Villegas: Yes
…
Zangeneh: You were sober at this point?
Villegas: Yes
Zangeneh: How would you classify Ms. Momeni’s Level of inebriation … Was she messed up?
Villegas: Yes
Villegas said Nima Momeni, too, was acting “calm” when he came to pick Khazar up.
Zangeneh: How would you describe to the members of this jury Nima’s mood when he was picking up his sister.
Villegas: He was calm, normal, just in resolving mode.
Zangeneh: Did he seepm to be angry at Jeremy?
Villegas: No
Zangeneh: Did he seem to be aggressive toward Jeremy Boivin?
Villegas: No
She said that Momeni wanted to “sue” Boivin, but described Momeni’s relationship with his sister as normal, not “overprotective” as prosecutors and another witness have described.
Villegas will continue to testify on Tuesday.
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