Tory Lanez was denied the motion for a new trial in court today (May 9) after pleading with Judge Herriford not to “ruin his life,” according to Meghann Cuniff of Los Angeles Public Press.
“Tory Lanez WILL NOT get a new trial for the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion. This is according to Judge David Herriford, who ruled from the bench a few minutes ago,” Cuniff tweeted out from the courtroom. She also mentioned that Herriford’s decision came after going through the seven main arguments from Lanez’s lawyers, Jose Baez and Matthew Barhoma.
Cuniff shared that the judge “dismantled each one” and “concluded there were no errors. But he also said even if he concluded each error existed, the errors didn’t have a material affect on the outcome of the trial to warrant a new trial.” See tweets below.
In response to the judge’s ruling, the attorneys filed the motion to have Herriford removed from Lanez’s case. Baez and Barhoma reportedly told the judge that “they didn’t think he could issue his ruling until the motion was resolved,” to which “Herriford disagreed.”
The Canadian rapper has already served six months for the 2019 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion on the charges of assault involving a semiautomatic firearm, discharging a firearm with gross negligence, and having an unregistered firearm in a vehicle.
Whether Lanez, née Daystar Peterson’s, team will appeal again is yet to be revealed. As of now, the 30-year-old awaits a new date for sentencing.
The judge’s closing remarks were, “In the end, the jury believed the prosecution’s case beyond a reasonable doubt.” Cuniff also tweeted that, “he called out Lanez’s lawyers for not mentioning any of the other evidence against Lanez when they focused on perceived problems with some evidence.”
See tweets below.
During Monday’s hearing, Lanez’s reps mentioned the DNA findings by “one of the best DNA experts in the nation.” Reportedly, Lanez’s DNA “is 100 percent excluded and 100 percent eliminated from the gun,” per his attorneys.
However, Herriford brought up during the new trial hearing that Lanez’s team never objected to the DNA findings during the initial trial. Barhoma responded that Lanez’s former attorney lied to courts that she had hired her own DNA expert, but really wouldn’t be doing so until eight months later. Baez added the claim that attorney Holley “was not adequately prepared.”
Following Barhoma and Baez’s remarks, Judge Herriford still seemed unconvinced with the arguments presented at the hearing, reported the LA Times live from the courtroom via Twitter.
“It’s unclear how far new defense attorney Jose Baez can get with this argument, as Judge Herriford has repeatedly noted Baez did not make an ineffective counsel argument about Mgdesyan (former rep for Lanez) in his new trial motion. Meaning it can’t be considered here,” James Queally of the LA Times tweeted out.
According to Queally, if Lanez’s motion is rejected, he can still appeal the decision and “may actually have an argument, especially re: ineffective counsel. But the bar for a verdict to be set aside before sentencing is incredibly high.”
Cuniff added that before exiting the court on Monday, the Sorry 4 What artist pleaded with Judge Herriford to consider his stance and take another look into granting him freedom.
“Please don’t ruin my life. I could be your son. I could be your brother,” Lanez reportedly begged the judge, according to Cuniff. She also noted that Herriford is a Black judge.