Sentencing for Tory Lanez in the 2019 shooting case of Megan The Stallion has been delayed, once again, due to his new legal team working to get a new trial date. Reportedly, Lanez née Daystar Peterson’s team has new evidence to present to the courts.
As fans and both musicians have watched this case for nearly three years, many thought the sentencing would take place in January, however it had been rescheduled several times. According to NBC News, the appointed judge was set to hear arguments for a new trial for the Chixtape 6 crooner on Monday (April 10), but now it will happen at a later because of Lanez’s motion for the request.
Per outlet, Lanez’s team planned to present new ideas to support his appeal in court on Monday, such that “prejudicial evidence was erroneously entered into evidence,” according to a copy of the motion obtained by NBC News.
Reportedly, Lanez’s new attorney Matthew Barhoma feels that there are concerns with forensic testing used during the trial, late submissions of Instagram posts, and prejudicial photos of Lanez’s gun tattoo.
The motion to appeal also claims that there was interference from prosecution with Lanez’s right to counsel. The alleged interference also notes key witness, Kelsey Harris, and her accusations that Lanez and his team tried to bribe her, and the timing in which the prosecution brought it up in court.
During trial, parts of Harris’ initial statement to investigators were backtracked as she took the stand. She blamed “anxiety and postpartum depression,” for not being consistent with her statements.
However, the prosecution accepted that Lanez’s former attorney Shawn Holley was not involved in any bribery attempts, and he later withdrew from the case.
The prosecutor’s office killed the defense’s motion to appeal on Thursday (April 6), stating that the motion didn’t have much substance and the “guilty verdict” was sufficient.
“The evidence presented at trial was properly admitted, and the defendant’s claims of errors and violations of his constitutional rights are without merit,” the prosecution’s filing said, NBC reports. “The verdict reached by the jury was based on credible evidence and was supported by the law.”
The Canadian rapper/singer, was found guilty in December 2022 of assault with a semi-automatic firearm, discharging a firearm with gross negligence and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle.
Lanez now faces 22 years and eight months in prison if he is given the maximum sentence on each charge, served consecutively. There is also a possible deportation back to Canada after time served.