The prosecution is ongoing in the murder trial of Nima Momeni

SAN FRANCISCO – Prosecutors rested their case in Nima Momeni's murder trial on Wednesday after calling their lead investigator to the witness stand.

All eyes are now on the defense case, which begins on Thursday – and whether Momeni himself will take the stand.

Defense attorneys typically discourage their clients from testifying because they risk being disliked by jurors. The defendants are also subject to demanding cross-examination.

But Momeni says he fatally stabbed Cash App founder Bob Lee in self-defense after Lee attacked him with a knife. According to the defense, Momeni then took the knife from Lee and killed him to protect himself.

“Because this case is a self-defense defense, Momeni's lawyers must refer him to the stand because he is the only one who can explain to the jury that what he did was in fact self-defense.” said KTUV legal analyst Michael Cardoza.

Saam Zanganeh, one of Momeni's five lawyers, would not say whether the defense plans to call him as a witness, but said Momeni wanted to testify.

“Of course he does,” Zanganeh said in court. “He has wanted to tell his side of the story for a very long time. You know, the – I won’t say the media – but the picture painted by Nima is not Nima.”

But Lee's brother, Tim Oliver Lee, says he has seen no evidence that Momeni acted in self-defense.

“Nima's DNA is on the handle of the knife, my brother's DNA is unfortunately on the top of the knife, and anything they have for self-defense, if you had sweaty hands, the DNA would have been on the handle of the knife.” Knife. It makes no sense at all,” he said.

The defense filed a standard motion for a mistrial on several grounds, but it was denied by the judge. The defense will call its first witness on Thursday.

Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. Email Henry at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan