Tory Lanez Guilty in Megan Thee Stallion Shooting – Rolling Stone

Rapper Tory Lanez On Friday, July 12, 2020, he was found guilty of shooting music superstar Megan Thee Stallion in both legs during an alcohol-fueled curb confrontation before dawn.

After seven hours of deliberation, a Los Angeles jury found the “Luv” singer guilty on all three counts, attacking Megan with a semi-automatic gun, causing serious bodily harm, and firing a weapon with gross negligence. and was found to be in possession of a concealed, unregistered weapon. his weapon in his SUV.

Lanez, whose full name is Dayster Peterson, faces up to 22 years and eight months in prison in a sentencing scheduled for Jan. 27. As he is a Canadian citizen, he could face deportation afterward. is also facing

“The jury got it right. We’re grateful that Meg has justice,” Megan’s attorney Alex Spiro said.

“I want to start by highlighting Megan’s bravery,” added District Attorney George Gascon. “You have shown incredible courage and vulnerability in your testimony despite repeated undeserved and grotesque attacks. has inspired people in LA County and across the country.

The verdict followed a nine-day trial, and Megan told jurors that she was trying to escape a screaming match inside Peterson’s Cadillac Escalade when she heard the rapper say, “Dance, bitch!” Turning around, I could see him pointing her 9mm semi-automatic pistol at her.

“I’m shocked. I’m scared. I hear gunshots. I couldn’t believe he shot me,” she testified before a packed court. I did.”

The Grammy-winning 27-year-old said she fell to the ground and crawled into a nearby driveway. She said, “Everybody’s screaming now. He looked shocked.”

Peterson had no visible reaction when the first conviction was read, but later bowed. Pandemonium then erupted when his father, Sonster Peterson, jumped up from the front row, where the rapper’s young son was also sitting, before he yelled, “This evil system.” “You two, you are evil, you are evil,” he shouted, pointing to the prosecutor before being thrown out of the courtroom.

Peterson, 30, was handcuffed and taken into custody immediately.

“We are shocked by the verdict. There was not enough evidence to convict Mr. Peterson. We believe this case has not been proven beyond reasonable doubt. Appeal. We will consider all options, including,” Peterson’s attorney, George Magdesian, said.

In over three hours of excruciating testimony last week, Megan described her “terrified” reaction to the attack and the terror and confusion that followed.

The “WAP” singer was complicit in the cover-up when she first told investigators she was bleeding profusely from stepping on glass. He said he asked him to do it.

“He says, ‘Don’t say anything.’ I’ll give you a million dollars. I can’t go to jail. I’ve been caught with a gun before,” she testified.

In closing arguments Wednesday and Thursday, Mgdesyan called Megan a “liar.”

Mgdesyan further claimed that the client had left bullet residue on his hands because he was trying to keep the gun away from the actual shooter, who he identified as Megan’s estranged best friend Kelsey Harris. didn’t buy it.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s on probation in 2020. It’s him that matters. Said Megan was on probation — because he was manipulating her,” Deputy District Attorney Cathy Ta said in her final rebuttal before the jury began hearing Thursday morning. “He tries to appeal to her sympathy. ‘I’m under arrest on a gun charge. I’m on probation. Don’t say anything.’ is. ”

The two-week trial included head-turning testimony from Harris, who was in the Escalade the morning of the shooting, who gave an 80-minute recorded statement to prosecutors in September. did. on the ground.

When she was in court under a subpoena from the prosecutor on December 14, Harris exercised her Fifth Amendment right to self-incrimination and sought blanket immunity. You have agreed to give “Use Disclaimer” to This means that her sworn testimony could not be used against her in future lawsuits, but she could be prosecuted for some crime based on other evidence.

In the witness stand, Harris denied key aspects of September’s statement, noting that he never saw Peterson fire, and when he sent Megan’s bodyguards a three-line text five minutes after the shooting, saying: He claimed that he was acting under “assumptions”. / Tori Shot Meg / 911.”

Harris declined to involve Peterson in his live testimony, but said it was “absurd” for his defense to claim she was the shooter.From a pool party held at Kylie Jenner’s house , she said it was true that she and Megan and Peterson had been driving. She said it stemmed from her belief that no one had defended her in an online accusation that she shot Megan.

In her own testimony, Megan said she underwent emergency surgery under general anesthesia at a Los Angeles hospital at the height of COVID restrictions. .

While she was still in the hospital, Peterson sent her the following glaring apology. And I got too drunk. Nevertheless, shit should never happen and you can’t change what happened. I was just really drunk.”

Megan said she struggled to work through the aftermath of the attack and defended her decision to keep her former intimate relationship with Peterson a secret leading up to the trial. The relationship made her feel “embarrassed,” she said, and ultimately considered it unrelated to the violence that landed her in the hospital.

She told jurors that naming Peterson as the perpetrator would come at a high price.

“I feel like everyone in power in the music industry, even if they’re not rappers, doesn’t care what happens to my story. The last three years have given me hell,” Megan testified.

“There doesn’t go a day without someone calling me a liar or being ashamed of being a grown woman and having sex,” she testified, noting that “all the stories” changed to who she had sex with. Stated.

“I don’t understand why it matters,” she said of her previous sexual relationship with Peterson. She said, “Tory came out and told various lies like I wasn’t shot, he wasn’t the shooter, and made this all a sex scandal.”

Megan said she is currently dealing with constant online threats and harassment. She said it made her feel like a “sick bird” that other members of her industry tried to avoid.

“Because I was shot, I became some kind of villain and he’s the victim. This has ruined my whole life,” she said, adding that she was “disgraced” online. She also spoke more about this trauma within her earlier this year. rolling stone cover story.

At the very least, she thought, “I wish he had shot and killed me instead of having to go through this torture.”

In his closing argument, Ta said it didn’t make sense for Megan to ensnare Peterson if Harris pulled the trigger.

“He’s a fellow rapper in the industry. He’s got boy club support. It would have been easier for her to say, ‘My crazy assistant did this to me.’ It’s much harder to go against the Conservatives,” Ta argued. “She had to think about it because she was worried about what it would do to her, and it took a toll on her.”

Ta said the case was “not about anyone’s sex life” and urged jurors to review the evidence and testimony. “(Meagan) disrespected his own rap. She was insulting him as a rapper, which pissed him off. He had a huge ego and disrespected him.” Couldn’t bear to be done, and how daring she had to walk away from him, so he reasserts his dominance, he intended to show her .”

“Women, especially black women, are afraid to report crimes such as assault and sexual violence because they are so mistrusted,” Gascon said. “This trial is the second this month[after Harvey Weinstein’s conviction]and has highlighted the many ways our society must do better for women.”