Tory Lanez appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom on Monday where his attorneys argued for a new trial for the rapper, who was convicted in Dec. 2022 of felony assault in the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion.
According to journalist, Meghann Cuniff on Twitter, Lanez reportedly begged the judge to spare his life. “Please don’t ruin my life. I could be your son. I could be your brother,” Lanez reportedly said.
The other attorney also made the bold argument that jurors never should have heard the name "Tory Lanez" because it's a creative expression. Judge Herriford pointed out that Lanez's own lawyer repeatedly called him Tory Lanez all through trial.
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) May 8, 2023
Cuniff went on to explain what went down when Lanez’ lawyers tried to prove his innocence. “The argument was all over the place.” Cuniff tweeted, “but it ended with Barhoma and Baez upset that Judge Herriford said he doesn’t need to hear testimony from the defense experts who submitted declarations because their declarations cover it. When Baez was complaining about not being allowed to call witnesses, Judge Herriford told him he knows he doesn’t practice law in this jurisdiction, but in this jurisdiction, this is how motions for new trial work.” She added.
There wasn't a commotion. A sheriff's deputy was urging Lanez to shut up but it wasn't a big thing. Herriford didn't say anything back, and Lanez was led out of the courtroom without incident. This followed loooong argument this afternoon. More details soon.
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) May 8, 2023
The argument was all over the place, but it ended with Barhoma and Baez upset that Judge Herriford said he doesn’t need to hear testimony from the defense experts who submitted declarations because their declarations cover it.
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) May 8, 2023
After the hearing today, Lanez’ lawyers spoke with reporters outside the courtroom and said, “They are looking forward to the strongest case as possible and we’re not going to stop until we get him out.”
As we previously reported, Tory took to Instagram to explain how he believes prosecutors lied about his DNA being on the gun. “I’ve been incarcerated for almost half a year over a gun that the D.A.s lied and said I shot. In 2021 they demanded that I take a DNA test. I took that test with no pushback, delay or question. Not only because I knew that I never shot the gun. But, because mainly I was 100% positive that I never even touched this gun. In my trial, the verdict of guilty or innocent depended heavily on my DNA results. With the help of L.A. Crime Labs DNA expert Randy Zepeda, D.A. Kathy Ta, and Alex Bott completely manipulated my DNA results, and lied to the world, the media, and most importantly my jury — by stating that my DNA on the gun was inconclusive. That was an absolute lie.”
Lanez added, “They went on further to say that ‘inconclusive means that he cannot be excluded from the gun.’ My new attorney Jose Baez hired one of the best DNA experts in the nation to carefully analyze the same DNA test, the fair and correct way. The results came back exactly as I knew this whole time. My DNA is 100% excluded and 100% eliminated from the gun. In other words, it’s physically and scientifically impossible for me to ever touched or shot this gun.”
