Tory Lanez reportedly regrets not testifying during the trial in which he was convicted of shooting Megan Thee Stallion.
According to Rolling Stone, a “well-placed source” says the rapper feels “misled” by his trial lawyer George Mgdesyan, who dissuaded him from taking the witness stand.
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Lanez had apparently wanted to plead his case to jurors during the 10-day trial in Los Angeles, but ultimately did not. He was eventually found guilty on all three counts — including felony assault and firearms charges — and now faces up to 22 years and eight months in prison, as well as deportation to Canada.
Prosecutors were prepared to present a slew of impeachment evidence if Tory took the stand, including his alleged assault of August Alsina in September 2022 and his “CAP” music video where he played a butcher carving up a horse leg in an alleged reference to Megan.
Those who did testify during the trial included Megan Thee Stallion, her former friend and assistant Kelsey Harris and a neighbor who claims to have witnessed the shooting, which took place after a party at Kylie Jenner’s house in the Hollywood Hills in July 2020.
During her turn on the witness stand, Megan emotionally recalled her “terrified” reaction to seeing Tory brandishing a gun and firing shots at her, as well as the “torture” she endured after going public with the allegations.
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Tory Lanez’s new lawyer, David Kenner — who successfully defended Snoop Dogg in his 1996 murder trial — said he couldn’t discuss the alleged “mistakes” that will be the basis for a new trial, but was optimistic about his chances of overturning his client’s convictions.
“I welcome the addition of Jose Baez to the defense team,” he said, referring to the other recent high-powered addition to Tory’s legal team. “It is our collective view that, based upon a motion for a new trial, and if necessary an appeal, we will ultimately be successful in freeing Tory Lanez.”
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He added: “There is another side of the story at trial which has yet to be told and we look forward to doing so.”
81-year-old Kenner is also widely known for previously representing Suge Knight. Speaking over the phone from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County, Suge spoke highly about Kenner and believed he wouldn’t be in prison if he represented him in the 2015 hit-and-run case that earned him a 28-year prison sentence.
“If they’d have let me use David Kenner, I wouldn’t be having this conversation from prison with you,” the Death Row Records co-founder claimed, before sympathizing with Megan Thee Stallion. “I understand what Megan goes through because when Tupac and I got shot in Vegas.
“I got a fragment and a bullet an inch to my skull today. They didn’t remove it because they said if it went another inch I’d have been a vegetable or dead. So I know what it’s like when people say, ‘You didn’t get shot, this didn’t happen, she’s lying.’ They accused me of stuff (too).”
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Suge also said he emphathizes with Tory Lanez, who has been behind bars since being found guilty on December 23 and is due to be sentenced on February 28.
“Right now, Tory is probably going through [the] worst days of life, because the county jail [is] so horrible and dirty,” he said. “The food is garbage, the cell is freezing, it’s dirty and nasty. You could be sitting in your bed at night, and a rat might run across your chest, or it might bite you, roaches is all over your bed.”
