Nearly two months after a Los Angeles jury found Tory Lanez guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the feet during an altercation in July 2020, the Canadian rapper has requested a new trial.
Lanez’s legal team is now claiming that the judge assigned to the case “erroneously allowed” jurors to assess a September 2020 Instagram post from Lanez’s personal account citing Megan’s now-former best friend Kelsey Harris was not the shooter, according to a report by Rolling Stone.
Lanez, who asserted that Harris was responsible for the shooting, also filed a claim that his employee Joshua Farias was behind the social media comment. The new filing, issued on March 29, also sees lawyers Jose Baez and Matthew Barhoma alleging that prosecutors surprised them with the Instagram comment mid-trial leaving them with little time to figure out who actually wrote it.
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Both Harris and Megan vehemently denied the defense’s allegations against Harris during the December trial, while Lanez has maintained his innocence since he first pleaded not guilty in November 2020.
The trial began with testimony from Megan herself, who claimed Peterson had shot her in an emotional retelling of the roadside assault. She told the jury: “I wish [Peterson] had just shot and killed me.” The defense went on to argue that this was a case about jealousy between Pete and Harris, who both allegedly had intimate relationships with Peterson.
Harris was described as a key witness for the prosecution, but she recanted her statements throughout much of her time on the stand, claiming she either didn’t see or couldn’t remember the circumstances of the shooting.
Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, was convicted of one felony count each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, negligent discharge of a firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. He faces up to 22 years in prison along with potential deportation and was originally scheduled to be sentenced in January, though the judge has allowed the date to be pushed back twice.
Peterson is now set to be sentenced on April 10, barring the judge denies his request for a new trial.
