{"id":432490,"date":"2026-08-14T05:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T05:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/432490\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T05:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T05:22:09","slug":"bob-lee-killer-nima-momeni-plays-race-card-in-blue-san-francisco-after-murder-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/432490\/","title":{"rendered":"Bob Lee killer Nima Momeni plays race card in blue San Francisco after murder conviction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Convicted killer Nima Momeni is playing the race card<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Iranian-born, non-US citizen<\/a> is heading back to a San Francisco courtroom Friday, where his new defense team will argue that racial bias tainted the trial that ended with his conviction for murdering Cash App founder Bob Lee.<\/p>\n

Momeni, 42, was found guilty of second-degree murder in December 2024.<\/p>\n

Now his lawyers are invoking California\u2019s Racial Justice Act, claiming prosecutors violated the law, according to Courthouse News Service.<\/p>\n

Nima Momeni, who is suspected of murdering tech executive Bob Lee, appears in court on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, in San Francisco, Calif. Lee, who created the mobile payment service Cash App, was attacked in the city\u2019s downtown Rincon Hill neighborhood. (David G. McIntyre) David G. McIntyre<\/p>\n

A newly released photo shows Bob Lee walking up Main Street toward Harrison, near where investigators say he was stabbed. Court documents via NBC\/Twitter<\/p>\n

A San Francisco Superior Court judge will hear the claim at an evidentiary hearing Friday morning, including allegations that prosecutors used dehumanizing and ethnically charged descriptions of Momeni during the trial.<\/p>\n

Momeni was born in Iran and speaks English as a second language.<\/p>\n

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The case began in the early-morning hours of April 4, 2023, when Lee, 43, was stabbed through the heart beneath the Bay Bridge between about 2:25 a.m. to 2:30 a.m.<\/p>\n

Lee, a father of two, had been a major name in tech. <\/p>\n

He worked as a Google<\/a> engineer, founded Cash App and later became an executive at cryptocurrency company MobileCoin.<\/p>\n

A newly released photo shows Bob Lee in the lobby of the Millennium Tower. The tower is where Nima Momeni\u2019s sister, Kazar, lives. Court documents via NBC\/Twitter<\/p>\n

Khazar Elyassnia arrives for the arraignment of her brother Nima Momeni on Thursday, May 18, 2023, in San Francisco, California. Momeni pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in connection with the stabbing murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee. Getty Images<\/p>\n

After the stabbing, Lee left a trail of blood as he called 911 begging for help before collapsing <\/a>on Main Street.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said Momeni went after Lee in a revenge attack involving his younger sister, Khazar, after she was sexually assaulted by a drug dealer.<\/p>\n

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Prosecutors said Lee was unarmed when he was killed. Instagram\/@boblee<\/p>\n

Momeni blamed Lee, prosecutors said, because Lee had used drugs with Khazar, introduced her to the dealer and left her alone with the assailant.<\/p>\n

Khazar, married to a wealthy plastic surgeon, had a casual relationship with Lee and attended parties with him. Prosecutors showed jurors flirtatious text messages between the pair.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors argued Momeni lured Lee away from Khazar\u2019s luxury Millennium Tower apartment and brought him to a dark street beneath the Bay Bridge to kill him.<\/p>\n

Khazar later sent Lee a message that morning before realizing he was dead: \u201cJust wanted to make sure your doing ok. Cause i know nima came wayyyyyy down hard on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also bombarded Momeni with angry messages asking what had happened to Lee after they left her apartment. Jurors saw messages in which she called her brother a \u201clunatic\u201d and \u201cpsycho.\u201d<\/p>\n

Momeni took the stand and offered a different story.<\/p>\n

A San Francisco Superior Court judge will hear the claim at an evidentiary hearing Friday morning Court documents via NBC\/Twitter<\/p>\n

He testified Lee attacked him after Momeni made a \u201cbad joke\u201d about Lee spending time in strip clubs instead of with his family. <\/p>\n

Prosecutors said Lee was unarmed when he was killed.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s Racial Justice Act became law in 2021. In 2025, a San Francisco judge granted an RJA motion for the first time in the city, finding implicit racial bias against a Black man convicted of gun charges. <\/p>\n

His felony conviction was reduced to a misdemeanor.<\/p>\n

It is unclear what would happen to Momeni\u2019s murder conviction if a judge grants his RJA motion.<\/p>\n

And despite the guilty verdict, Momeni still hasn\u2019t been sentenced.<\/p>\n

Nearly 20 months after jurors convicted him, he remains in San Francisco County jail awaiting a heavily delayed sentencing hearing.<\/p>\n

He faces 16 years to life behind bars.<\/p>\n

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