News
May 10, 2023 | 3:23 a.m
A Los Angeles judge on Tuesday denied a request for a new trial from the attorney for rapper Tory Lanez, who was convicted of three felonies in December for shooting and injuring hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in the feet.
A High Court judge, Hereford, rejected arguments by Lenz’s lawyers that the evidence was wrongly admitted at the trial he presided over.
He said that the exclusion of disputed evidence would have made no difference to the trial.
Lenz, 30, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, is now going to be He was sentenced for assault With a semi-automatic firearm, having a firearm loaded and not registered in a vehicle, and firing a firearm with gross negligence.
He could be up to 22 years in prison and face deportation back to his home country of Canada.
When he was led from the courtroom to the jail after a motion hearing the previous day, Hereford pleaded for his help, saying “I can be your son. I can be your brother.”
New trial motions filed immediately afterwards with the same judge are a common precursor to appeal to a higher court, which Lenz’s attorneys plan to do.
Suggestions are rarely successful.
Lenz’ attorneys maintained that a post from his Instagram account was improperly admitted into evidence.
They said Meghan’s testimony that Lenz urged her not to go to the police because he was on parole and would be in serious trouble was untrue and inappropriate for past misdeeds.
They said the DNA evidence prosecutors have used to argue that Lenz is the likely shooter falls far short of industry standards.
Linz’ lawyers were disappointed from the start of the day-long oral arguments on their motion.
They had a detailed presentation prepared, complete with audio, video and witnesses, but Herriford had none of it, insisting instead on narrow legal arguments about the specific issues raised, the norm for such motions in a California court.
They pleaded at length with Hereford to be allowed to present their arguments in the manner in which they had planned.
“I feel like I wouldn’t be effective if we moved forward,” said defense attorney Jose Paez. “Mr. Peterson has the due process right he is entitled to.”
They moved under protest, and later filed a motion to disqualify the judge.
Lenz’s lawyers, who did not represent him at trial, said the attorney who did it, George Magdisian, made mistakes in his case because he was given little time to prepare before trial when the rapper’s former lawyer withdrew.
Megan Thee Stallion, whose legal name is Megan Pete, testified that Lanez fired a gun at the back of her feet and yelled for her to dance as she drove away from an SUV they were riding in the Hollywood Hills last summer. 2020.
Magdisian said at the trial that Megan was lying in her testimony, and that Lenz did not pull the trigger. He said afterwards that there was not enough evidence to convict.
As it was throughout the trial, the courtroom was packed with the media and Lenz’s fans and family members, with many outside in the hallway.
The shooting and trial sparked a firestorm of cultural issues and arguments that culminated during the trial, including the reluctance of black victims to speak to the police, protections for black women, gender politics in hip-hop, and online toxicity.
After the verdict was read in December, Lenz’s father, Sunstar Peterson, stood up and denounced the “evil system” that had led to his son’s conviction and had to be thrown out of the courtroom.
The date of the verdict has not been set.
Lenz began releasing mixtapes in 2009 and has seen a steady rise in popularity, moving onto albums for major labels. His last two have reached the top ten on the Billboard charts.
Megan Thee Stallion was already a major rising star at the time of shooting, and her fame has grown ever since. She won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2021, hit the Billboard Hot 100 number one with her own song “Savage,” featuring Beyoncé, and as a guest on Cardi B’s “WAP.”
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