After months of delays, aggressive social media exchanges, and a suspected misinformation campaign to sway the verdict, Tory Lanez’s trial for allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion during a drunken dispute in July 2020 has officially started.
According to Rolling Stone, the rapper (real name Daystar Peterson) was freed from house arrest on Monday (December 5) as jury selection began in the felony assault case. Tory was placed under house arrest in October following allegations that he assaulted R&B singer August Alsina in Chicago in September.
Tory Lanez released from house arrest as his trial for allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion begins with jury selection in L.A.
“I’m doing this mainly for the trial preparation aspect,” Judge David Herriford said, overruling a prosecution objection
Openings expected 12/12
— Nancy Dillon (@Nancy__Dillon) December 5, 2022
“I will terminate the house arrest at this point. The main reason is that during trial, it’s difficult to have a client who’s not accessible. I’m doing this mainly for the trial preparation aspect,” LA County Superior Court Judge David Herriford ruled before calling in the first pool of prospective jurors. The judge also said Tory Lanez’s $350,000 bond in the case would stand.
Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta objected to the court’s decision, arguing that the Say It rapper allegedly tried to “sway” or “intimidate” witnesses previously in the case. She added that once testimony starts and everyone is in the same jurisdiction, witnesses might have their “concerns magnified” and “fear” being “in reach of him.”
Superior Court Judge David Herriford also rejected Kathy’s request that Tory at least keep his ankle monitor on.
Tory’s defense lawyer, George G. Mgdesyan, informed the court Monday that his client didn’t attempt to bribe or intimidate anyone, despite Megan Thee Stallion (real name Megan Jovon Ruth Pete) telling authorities that Tory offered her cash and begged her to stay quiet in the aftermath of the shooting because he supposedly was on probation at the time.
“She says that my client told her to lie and offered her money because he’s on probation and didn’t want to get arrested. My client has never been on probation,” George argued Monday as he campaigned for his client’s release and pushed back on continued ankle monitoring.
“If he’s required to have a monitor on his ankle in front of jurors, I think it’s just punitive. It doesn’t serve any purpose. If he’s going to dissuade a witness, all probation is going to know is where he is. It doesn’t mean he can’t meet with that person,” he added.
While arguing further motions, the attorney also informed the court that beauty mogul Kylie Jenner and reality star, Corey Gamble (Kris Jenner’s boyfriend), were on the defense’s witness list. This is because the two were at Kylie’s home for the pool party that unravelled into the alleged July 12, 2020, shooting.
“The argument, everything started there,” George informed Rolling Stone after the hearing, referring to Kylie’s mansion. He said including Kylie and Corey on the list wasn’t a guarantee he would attempt to haul them into court. However, according to him, Kylie’s testimony could offer vital insight into “how this incident began.”
Earlier this year, on a cover story with Rolling Stone, Megan said the other woman with Herr at the time of the shooting – her onetime best friend Kelsey Harris – informed her that after the incident, Tory offered to invest in her business in exchange for her silence.
Kelsey was riding in the SUV with Megan and Tory on the night of the alleged firearm assault. She appeared at a hearing in September and was ordered to return this month under a subpoena from prosecutors.
At a preliminary hearing last year, a police investigator said that Megan claimed she had heard Tory shout, “Dance, bitch” as he allegedly opened fire with a semiautomatic 9mm handgun on a residential street in the Hollywood Hills.
Before the gunfire, the detective testified, the trio supposedly got into a heated argument inside the vehicle over Tory’s claim that he had been romantically linked with Megan behind Harris’ back.
“(Megan) observed Mr. Peterson (Tory) holding a firearm, and then she observed him start to shoot,” LAPD Detective Ryan Stogner testified. “Megan immediately felt pain to her feet, observed blood, fell to the ground, and then crawled to an adjacent driveway of a residence…She described her injuries as bleeding profusely.”
Tory Lanez was officially charged in late 2020 with one count of assaulting Megan with a semiautomatic firearm in a way that “personally inflicted great bodily harm” and one count of carrying a concealed, loaded, and unregistered firearm in a vehicle. Tory denies the shooting and maintains his innocence in the case.
However, Megan filed for a protective order that bars him from contacting her in person or otherwise. Also, if found guilty of the charges, the In For It rapper could serve a maximum prison sentence of 22 years and eight months.
“We’re confident the truth will come out. It’s been two years, and we’re confident,” George told Rolling Stone on Monday. “He should never have been on house arrest, to begin with. It’s punitive. Now that we’re in trial, he needs to be part of the preparation.”
Opening statements in the likely ten-day trial will begin on December 12, and Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (Ms. Thee Stallion) is expected to testify.
Speaking to Rolling Stone earlier this year, the Thot Shit rapper was adamant she won’t back down from the fight.
“I want him to go to jail,” she said. “I want him to go under the jail.”
She also posted a series of tweets demanding unnamed rappers (thought to be Drake and Z1 Savage) stop referencing her alleged assault, beginning by demanding that they “stop attaching weak ass conspiracy theories in bars to my name.”
In a separate tweet, Megan wrote: “Stop using my shooting for clout… Since when tf is it cool to joke abt women getting shot!”
She continued: “People attack me, y’all go up for it, I defend myself now I’m doing too much … every time it never ends, and this did NOT happen until I came out and said I got shot … y’all don’t fwm okay cool fuck it bye.”
I know I’m very popular but y’all gotta stop attaching weak ass conspiracy theories in bars to my name lol Niggas nor hoes EVER address me or @ me WITH a fact or receipts. I AM CLOUT BITCH keep sucking my pussy
— TINA SNOW (@theestallion) November 4, 2022
and
Stop using my shooting for clout bitch ass Niggas! Since when tf is it cool to joke abt women getting shot ! You niggas especially RAP NIGGAS ARE LAME! Ready to boycott bout shoes and clothes but dog pile on a black woman when she say one of y’all homeboys abused her
— TINA SNOW (@theestallion) November 4, 2022
and
And when the mf facts come out remember all y’all hoe ass favorite rappers that stood behind a Nigga that SHOT A FEMALE
— TINA SNOW (@theestallion) November 4, 2022
and
People attack me y’all go up for it , i defend myself now I’m doing too much … every time it never ends and this did NOT happen until I came out and said I got shot … y’all don’t fwm okay cool fuck it bye
— TINA SNOW (@theestallion) November 4, 2022
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