The jury in the trial of rapper A$AP Rocky delivered a verdict on Tuesday, concluding their deliberations in a span of roughly three hours. The panel, comprised of seven women and five men, began discussions in the morning after three weeks of testimony and legal arguments had concluded the previous Friday.

A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was ultimately acquitted of two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm stemming from an incident in Hollywood in 2021. The verdict came after a tense trial where the stakes were high; a guilty verdict could have led to a 24-year prison sentence. The 36-year-old artist, who is also known for his work in fashion and acting, has been out on bail since his arrest in 2022.

Just before the trial, he had declined a plea deal that would have resulted in six months of jail time in exchange for a guilty plea. His decision to fight the charges in court proved to be the right one, as jurors found reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case.

During the deliberations, jurors had to determine whether Rocky was guilty of firing two shots. Key evidence presented to the jury included testimony from A$AP Relli, as well as video footage partially capturing the incident. Text messages exchanged between Relli and Rocky before and after the altercation were also highlighted during the trial.

The case had centered around conflicting narratives. The prosecution alleged that Rocky fired two shots at A$AP Relli, a former friend and fellow member of the A$AP Mob, following an argument on a Hollywood street in November 2021. Relli claimed one shot grazed his knuckle, though he was not seriously injured. Rocky’s defense countered that he had fired a prop gun loaded with blanks, retrieved from a music video set months earlier, as a warning after Relli had allegedly attacked another member of their crew. The jury ultimately did not have to agree on whether Rocky had been carrying a real or fake firearm—only that reasonable doubt existed regarding his guilt.

As the jury’s decision was announced, A$AP Rocky, standing beside his legal team, exhaled deeply before turning to the jury. “Thank y’all for saving my life,” he said. Immediately after the ruling, Rocky leaped into the courtroom gallery to embrace his longtime partner and superstar in her own right, Rihanna, who had been a presence during the proceedings.

Deputy District Attorney John Lewin had urged jurors to disregard Rocky’s celebrity and the presence of his family in the courtroom, arguing that the law should apply equally to all. “You are not allowed to consider how this might affect Rihanna and his kids,” Lewin stated. “We are all responsible for our own actions in the world.” However, the jury’s swift deliberations—taking only three hours—suggested that they found issues with the prosecution’s case.

With the trial now behind him, Rocky’s focus will shift back to his career. He was set to headline the Rolling Loud music festival in March, serve as a co-chair at the Met Gala in May, and star alongside Denzel Washington in Spike Lee’s upcoming film Highest 2 Lowest, scheduled for a summer release. The verdict ensured that these high-profile commitments could proceed without the looming threat of incarceration