A$AP Rocky to be released from Swedish jail pending verdict

Update 5:53 a.m. EDT Aug. 3: Rapper A$AP Rocky returned to the United States late Friday after being released from custody in Sweden, ABC News reported.

Rocky's legal team said the singer will not be required to be present when a verdict is issued Aug. 14, the network reported.

Original report: Rocky, born Rakim Mayers, was arrested with two members of his entourage after a fight that happened on June 30 in Stockholm's city center, according to The Associated Press and BBC News. On Tuesday, he pleaded not guilty and told the court he had been acting in self-defense after Mustafa Jafari, 19, and another man refused to leave him and his entourage alone.

Rocky's attorney told freelance reporter Maddy Savage that Rocky would be free to return to the U.S. as he awaits a verdict in the case. He was expected to leave the country Friday night by private jet, Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported.

A judge is expected to issue a verdict in the case on Aug. 14, BBC News reported.

President Donald Trump, who had called on Sweden to release Rocky, celebrated news of his temporary release in a Twitter post.

"It was a Rocky Week, get home ASAP A$AP!" the president wrote.

Video of the fight was published online last month by TMZ. The video appears to show Rocky trying to defuse the situation before it got violent, according to TMZ.

Authorities arrested Rocky, Bladimir Corniel and David Rispers after the incident, BBC News reported. Prosecutors argued in court that the men had "every possibility" to leave the scene, according to the news network.

Prosecutors have asked that Rocky receive a 6-month jail sentence based on the fact that he allegedly threw a bottle at Jafari during the fight, TMZ reported. Rocky has insisted he never used a bottle in the fight, a claim bolstered Friday by a witness who testified that, although she told police Rocky hit Jafari with a bottle, she'd never actually seen the strike, the AP reported.

Rocky's bodyguard, Timothy Leon Williams, testified Friday that he knew something was "not right" with Jafari on the day of the incident, according to the AP.

"I'm noticing it because I'm a bodyguard," Williams told the court in English. "And now, I'm looking at him like, 'Yo, what's wrong with you?' I'm looking at him and saw that his eyes were really glossy, like he's on something."

Rocky previously testified that he believed Jafari and his friend might have been under the influence of drugs when the fight started.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.