Tory Lanez Files New Appeal Over Megan Thee Stallion Verdict
After being sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting Megan Thee Stallion, rapper Tory Lanez has filed a new appeal to overturn his conviction.
Law and Crime reporter Meghann Cuniff reported that attorneys representing Lanez filed the appeal on grounds of “erroneous admission of evidence” and “prosecutorial misconduct,” in the 103-page document.
“The arguments largely match arguments made in his motion for a new trial that Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Herriford rejected in May,” Cuniff wrote.
“The filing builds on a habeas petition filed in December with a declaration from Lanez’s driver that says he saw Lanez try to take a gun away from Megan’s friend Kelsey Harris before the shooting occurred, but it also says the driver did not see who fired the shots,” Cuniff continued.
According to Lanez's lawyers, “prosecutors made multiple improper appeals to emotion and sympathy” for Megan during closing arguments, "which should have had no bearing" in determining if Lanez had been innocent or guilty of the charges.
“Sympathy for the victim is out of place during an objective determination of guilt,” Lanez's lawyers said.
During the trial, Megan testified that Lanez had shot at her feet and “yelled at her to dance” as she exited an SUV following a party at Kylie Jenner’s home.
Megan, who at first did not identify Lanez as the shooter, said she needed surgery to remove bullet fragments from her feet in her testimony.
“Since I was viciously shot by the defendant, I have not experienced a single day of peace,” Megan said in a statement before Lanez was sentenced. “Slowly but surely, I'm healing and coming back, but I will never be the same.”
The response brief of the appeal is due on March 27 in the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles.