Nima Momeni, the man convicted for the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee, is suing the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Standard for defamation, emotional distress, and invasion of privacy. The Standard wrote about the suit, but left out some key information.
The suit was filed Monday at San Francisco Superior Court, with the first hearing scheduled for May 26, 2026. Additional plaintiffs include freelance photographer Paul Kuroda and NYP Holdings, the publisher of the New York Post.
Momeni does not specify what the articles or photographs of concern are, but based on the list of defendants, it appears that the suit is centered on a series of photos showing Momeni inside a jail cell.
The images in question were taken sometime in August 2023 by Kuroda inside a city-operated jail cell in San Bruno while on a separate assignment for the Los Angeles Times. The Standard purchased the photos for a story published on Nov. 28 later that year detailing the environs of his solitary cell. The Post wrote a story featuring the same photos.
Editors at The Standard said they had gotten permission from Momeni’s attorneys to publish the photos — a claim that his attorneys denied. (Disclosure: I was a reporter at the Standard when the photos were published, but I was uninvolved in any coverage of the Bob Lee trial.) At the time, Momeni’s lead attorney Saam Zangeneh told the San Francisco Chronicle that the photos would sway the jury’s decision.
Momeni was found guilty last December of stabbing Lee in April 2023, a case that roiled San Francisco for months. In June, he hired new attorneys.
San Francisco Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Tara Moriarty condemned the photographs at the time, calling the taking and publishing of them a “violation of our media rules and a blatant disregard for the agreed upon conditions.”
“While the LA Times did not publish any unauthorized photos, its photographer proceeded to monetize the unauthorized photographs with other media outlets, resulting in a further violation of our media rules and a blatant disregard for the agreed upon conditions,” read Moriarty’s statement to press at the time, which was re-shared with Gazetteer Tuesday. (Moriarty did not provide further comment.)
Momeni is requesting $17 million in damages. Representatives for the Standard, the Post, and the Times did not respond to requests for comment from Gazetteer.
