Tory Lanez & Megan thee stallion saga update
Rapper Tory Lanez has been found guilty on all three counts in the closely-watched trial over whether he shot Megan Thee Stallion in the foot, ending a nearly two-week trial over the July 2020 incident and setting the stage for a potentially lengthy prison sentence.
Megan Thee Stallion gets shot in the foot during an outing in Hollywood by rap star Tory Lanez. At least that's how the accusations are being described. Holy smokes, what gives? This tragic event is one of the wildest episodes in the history of hip hop music. Still fans and supporters are backing either Tory Lanez, the chart-topping rapper/singer at the top of his game, or Megan Thee Stallion, the voluptuous rap vixen making hit after hit and soaring on the charts as well. While these two could have been hip hops next power couple, a more sinister reality is being revealed through witness testimony and its a head-scratcher. Debate on the streets are fascinating. Questions arise like; What the heck what's going on between the two that would lead to gun play?
Testimony from various points of view indicate that the two were out on a date in Hollywood. That sounds pretty innocent. But this was not your typical date night. Uh, yeah, because it ended in gunfire with a victim being one of the biggest names in the rap game today. The accused being one of the biggest names in...well you get it. The big question is: What the hell kind of date night are we talking about here? We' ve all heard of taking shots from a shot glass at the bar with an attractive woman but taking shots (from a pistol) aimed at your girl (date) for is some real looney G-stuff. Who/WHY would take a gun to Megan Thee Stallion? Why her feet?
It gets wilder. Was Torey really telling her to dance while he shot at her feet to make her hop up abnd down to avoid the bullets hitting her feet, sort of like Yosemite Sam when aiming at Bugs Bunny's paws? Was he doing a Yosimite Sam impression shooting at his own feet and missed but struck Mega's feet next to his? This sounds insane right?
The whole episode sounds strange from start to finish but here they are with some progress in the case. According to Megan, after a fight erupted between Lanez, Harris and herself in an SUV driven by Lanez’s security guard Jaquan Smith, she exited the car only to be shot at multiple times by Lanez, who she claimed at one point shouted, “Dance, b—-” while firing out the window.
To be clear, gunplay and hip Hop has gone too far for sure with tragedies becoming commonplace. There's no doubt that this could have been one. So it's good news to know that a verdict has been delivered in this case. The verdict was handed down by a jury in Los Angeles court on Friday (Dec. 23). Lanez was convicted on all counts: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. He faces up to 22 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 27.
According to Billboard, in the course of the trial, Lanez’s defense team made their best effort to sow doubt over pulled the trigger, painting a scenario in which Megan’s ex-friend and assistant Harris was the shooter. To make their case, they leaned on inconsistent statements made by Megan in the more than two years since the incident as well as an account from alleged eyewitness Sean Kelly.
However, Kelly undercut the defense team’s theory by offering confusing and contradictory testimony from the stand on Tuesday — stating he saw a muzzle flash near where Megan and Harris were scuffling in the street near his home but also that he saw a man matching Lanez’s description holding a gun and, at another point, that he never saw a gun at all.
The story has captured the attention of the media and the Hip Hop world alike. All eyes are on the potential jail time for Lanez.
On the other side, prosecutors have continuously highlighted Megan’s emotional testimony last week, when the Grammy winner held back sobs as she recounted the ordeal and said that she’s received severe public blowback in the wake of the incident, at one point stating, “I wish he had just shot and killed me if I would have known I was going to go through this torture.”
But wait, there's more to this sad, sordid saga and it involves various potential individuals that are accused of actually doing the shooting. In addition to Megan’s direct claims that Lanez was the one who pulled the trigger, prosecutors also poked holes in the defense team’s theory that Harris was the one responsible. In closing arguments, Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott strongly suggested that Harris, who in a prior interview with prosecutors said that Lanez shot Megan and also assaulted her when she tried to intervene contradicted her prior statements only after being threatened or paid off.
The blockbuster trial arrived nearly two and a half years after Megan was shot at least once in the foot in the early morning hours of July 12, 2020, while on the way home from a small party thrown by Kylie Jenner.
The Prosecutor said "Women, especially Black women, are afraid to report crimes like assault and sexual violence because they are too often not believed." Pete suffered wounds to her feet that she described to police at the scene as the result of broken glass, but later claimed were caused by gunshots from Peterson. A surgeon who operated on Pete after the altercation took the stand to confirm he had removed bullet fragments from her feet. But Harris (one of the witnesses denied ever hearing Peterson say the now-infamous line — “Dance, bitch” — as he allegedly shot at Pete’s feet
Peterson’s attorney, George Mgdesyan, told the jury “this case is about sexual relationships,” and contended that the events of those nights had occurred because Pete and Harris had a heated and drunken dispute about disloyalty, since they were both allegedly sleeping with Peterson. To this, deputy district attorney Kathy Ta argued the case was about the shooting — not sex. She, like Bott, pointed to Pete’s original testimony where she said: “This whole story has not been about the shooting. It’s only been about who is Tory having sex with.”That is clearly the version of the story that jurors, who took less than two days to reach their unanimous verdict, chose to believe.
The trial could well have dragged on beyond Christmas had either Lanez or Smith taken the stand, but on Wednesday, the rapper said he would not be testifying and defense lawyers opted against placing Smith on the stand, citing procedural wrangling and the possibility of a delay that could have forced jurors to return after the holiday. Megan was not present for the reading of the verdict on Thursday.
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