Tory Lanez has been denied a new trial for shooting Megan Thee Stallion.
The 30-year-old rapper was convicted in December of three felony counts including assault with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence, in connection with the 2020 incident, and on Tuesday (09.05.23), Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Herriford rejected his application to have the case heard again.
Tory’s lawyer, Jose Baez, had argued the guilty verdict was due to procedural errors, prosecutorial misconduct, discovery violations and ineffective counsel.
But according to FOX 11 Los Angeles, the judge said: “The court finds no error, prosecutorial misconduct or newly discovered evidence.”
After the motion was denied, the ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ rapper – whose real name is Daystar Peterson -told the judge: “Your honour, please don’t ruin my life.”
A date for sentencing has not yet been set, but Tory faces up to 22 years and eight months in prison. He has been in jail since the verdict was first given in December.
The rapper’s legal team previously accused the prosecution of trying to paint an unfair picture using irrelevant evidence when they asked for a retrial.
Mr. Baez claimed prosecutors submitted a photo of Tory with no shirt on and a firearm on his chest, which they said had been used for identification purposes, but the lawyer insisted they deliberately chose that picture to suggest his client had a fondness for weapons.
The lawyer also argued it was a reversible error for prosecutors to threaten to show the jury the ‘Say It’ hitmaker’s rap lyrics, and objected to the panel being given an 80-minute interview with Megan’s friend Kelsey Harris – who was in the car the night of the shooting – to listen to, even though she later recanted much of what she had said.
Additionally, he objected to an Instagram post being included as evidence, which included a comments from one of Megan’s producers that claimed police detectives had matched bullets from Tory’s gun to fragments found in Megan’s foot.
Finally, the appeal also argued it was wrong to allow Megan’s statements made to police in which she said the rapper told her immediately after the shooting: “Please don’t say anything because I’m on probation.”
But the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office filed a motion urging the judge to deny the request for a new trial.
And a spokesperson said after the judge ruled this week: “We have full faith and confidence in our trial team and are pleased with the court’s ruling in the matter.”
