Tory Lanez was handcuffed and taken into court after being found in violation of a protective order in his felony assault case involving allegations he shot Megan Thee Stallion in her feet almost two years ago.
The Judge raised the bail from $250,000 to $350,000 adding new measures to the protective order.
Lanez has since posted bail.
Rolling Stone provided details about what happened in court.
Judge David Herriford after hearing nearly an hour of argument found that Lanez had violated court orders prohibiting him from contacting or harassing Megan or discussing any discovery in the case with outside parties.
Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, has pleaded not guilty in the high profile case dating back to July 2020.
He appeared in court wearing a black tuxedo jacket over a black turtleneck and was accompanied by his father and several friends.
His lawyer, Shawn Holley, argued Lanez did not provide a third-party Twitter user and YouTube personality known as DJ Akademiks with any discovery in the case before Akademiks tweeted Feb. 23 that “Tory Lanez DNA was not found on the weapon in the Meg Thee Stallion case.”
“What he said is incorrect,” Holley told the court Tuesday, referring to the now-deleted tweet that caused a social media firestorm. “What (DJ Akademiks) said is that the DNA was not found on the weapon. And in fact, the swab of the gun indicates ‘inconclusive,’ that there were four contributors.”
Holley also referred to a follow-up Feb. 23 tweet from DJ Akademiks that read, “I saw this doc myself.. it literally says it was inconclusive in finding Tory DNA on the gun or magazine.” Holley argued that also was false because “the swab of the magazine indicates Mr. Peterson was excluded.”
“If he had seen this document, he presumably would have got it right,” she argued, calling the tweets “chatter” in “a medium that is almost inherently unreliable.”
“The court cannot conclude the defendant distributed anything, however it does appear that he violated the order that prohibits him from making any statements regarding discovery,” Judge Herriford said, referring to follow-up posts from Peterson, including one that read, “Ak is telling no lies.”
Holley argued that Megan also has used her sizable social media presence to talk about the case, and some of her comments have been “damaging” to Peterson. But Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta argued that Peterson’s purported endorsement of the DJ Akademiks DNA tweets was “his way of getting ahead and manipulating the narrative.” She said Megan has “been getting death threats” and has been “harassed constantly” due to Peterson’s “course of conduct.”
Judge Herriford remanded Peterson to sheriff’s custody pending his payment of his new bond after saying prosecutors’ request to lock the musician up with no bail was “extreme.” The judge added a new “crystal clear” condition of release, stating that Peterson “cannot mention the complaining witness in this case in any social media.”
“The DA requested no bail or, in the alternative, $5 million bail, and the court rejected those arguments and increased bail to $350,000. And that bail is being posted now,” Holley said after the hearing.
“I’m here because this is my son. I’m the first person outside anyone present that day to hear about this. I believe in him. I believe in his innocence,” Peterson’s dad, Sonstar Peterson, tells Rolling Stone.
The high-profile case is now speeding toward a tentative Sept. 14 trial after a prior judge decided at a preliminary hearing in December that prosecutors had enough evidence to warrant calling a jury.
Twitter reaction:
Prosecutors had sought to revoke Lanez’s bail entirely or increase it to $5 million. But the judge said that would be excessive.
Lanez’s attorney told reporters the new bail is being posted & she expected Lanez to leave the building not in custody.https://t.co/GMBUBoG7HK
— Stephanie K. Baer (@skbaer) April 5, 2022
and
Tory Lanez was handcuffed in court and remanded to custody until he posts new bail of $350,000 in Megan Thee Stallion felony assault case. Judge found him in violation of discovery protective order and personal contact order.
— Nancy Dillon (@Nancy__Dillon) April 5, 2022
and
Judge David Herriford heard nearly an hour of argument about Lanez’s tweets and said some “seem to be clear messages” to Megan. He added new condition to Lanez’s release that he’s “not to mention the complaining witness in this case in any social media.” Trial date set for 9/14.
— Nancy Dillon (@Nancy__Dillon) April 5, 2022
and
Well, it has been confirmed that DJ Akademiks did make things worse for Tory Lanez?
Tory Lanez may have already bailed out of jail, but he is leaving that muthafucka with a trial date. That is the part we can’t sweep over. Thanks Akademiks ?
— Fck_Yaya?✍️? (@FckYaya) April 5, 2022
and
I got it from Roc Nation … *shrug* https://t.co/lls2tjPBPi
— DJ Akademiks (@Akademiks) April 5, 2022
and
Tory Lanez got arrested for tweets. But nothing happen to Meg Thee Stallion for saying he shot me in a video. This entire case is starting to be a joke to me.
— Jay ?? (@StarBwoy_J) April 5, 2022
and
Tory Lanez got arrested for tweets. But nothing happen to Meg Thee Stallion for saying he shot me in a video. This entire case is starting to be a joke to me.
— Jay ?? (@StarBwoy_J) April 5, 2022
and
So Meg and her goofy boyfriend can talk all day about Tory, but he can’t say anything ⁉️ They are trying to break Tory to take a plea deal, so we can’t find out the truth. Wake up people?
— geezlouise (@geezlou94450563) April 5, 2022
and
You know what else is hard?
Getting cuffed in front of your family and having to pay 300k for your freedom,when all you had to do was chill, but hey maybe those tweets were worth it, maybe he’ll turn em into a NFT or something lol
Blessings to Tory tho
— Godly Thoughts (@cryptoandhoes) April 5, 2022
and
Why do y’all think Megan woke up bored and decided to lie and say Tory lanez shot her like are you insane that is not even logical oh my god why are y’all twisting and turning to defend that man
— Ari (@Ariellex1_) April 5, 2022
and
What’s so weird about the whole situation is more than half of y’all didn’t become Tory Lanez fans until he got accused of assaulting a black woman… pic.twitter.com/2vmCrDrZf9
— Mint ? (@mint_tibb) April 5, 2022
and
Tory Lanez just released from custody. He climbed in driver’s seat of waiting Lamborghini and drove off. Said he was feeling “amazing” pic.twitter.com/bKPvjH5Alp
— Nancy Dillon (@Nancy__Dillon) April 5, 2022
What the eyewitness is saying:
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