Tory Lanez has added yet another high-powered attorney to his legal team as he prepares to appeal his convictions in connection to the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion.
According to TMZ, the Canadian rapper has hired Jose Baez, the defense attorney best known for helping Casey Anthony avoid prison and the death penalty after being charged with murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee.
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Baez’s former clients also includes ex-NFL player Aaron Hernandez, who was acquitted of double murder in 2017 over the shooting deaths of two immigrant men, Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, in Boston five years earlier.
The addition of Baez follows the hirings of David Kenner — the seasoned lawyer who famously helped Snoop Dogg beat his 1993 murder case and previously represented Suge Knight — and Matthew Barhoma, who specializes in criminal appeals.
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Tory was represented during the trial by defense attorney George Mgdesyan, who he has since parted ways with. “I don’t do appeals, so we had to get somebody on board to handle the appeal,” Mgdesyan explained to Rolling Stone reporter Nancy Dillon of the shakeup.
Kenner and Barhoma made their first court appearances as Lanez’s lawyers last Tuesday (January 10) to formalize the change to his legal team. Kenner plans to file a motion for a new trial that would toss the rapper’s three convictions.
“I look forward to litigating the motion for a new trial,” Kenner said at the hearing, according to Los Angeles Magazine. He added: “We’re very confident.”
Tory Lanez (real name Daystar Peterson) was convicted on all three counts he was charged with following a high-profile 10-day trial in Los Angeles last month.
He was found guilty of felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm, possession of a concealed, unregistered firearm and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
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Jurors agreed with the prosecution’s theory that Tory fired five shots at Megan Thee Stallion in a fit of rage during a drunken dispute following a party at Kylie Jenner’s house in the Hollywood Hills in July 2020, wounding her feet.
He faces a maximum of 22 years and eight months behind bars, as well as subsequent deportation to Canada. The 30-year-old was due to be sentenced on January 27, but that date has since been pushed back to February 28 due to the overhaul of his legal counsel.
While neither Tory Lanez nor Megan Thee Stallion have yet to address the outcome of the trial, Tory’s father Sonstar Peterson recently revealed his son has “forgiven” the Houston Hottie.
“This might come as a shock to many of you, but guess what? Both my son, myself and others of our family have long decided that we are not going to hold any animosity against Megan Pete a.k.a. Megan Thee Stallion,” he said during a 40-minute video posted on Instagram last week. “We forgave that girl a long time ago. A long time ago.”
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He added: “Some will no doubt actually question: is he actually saying that Tory forgave Megan for all of what’s going on? Yes, we have forgiven her. But what we will not back down from is the machine.”
Peterson — a former pastor — previously made headlines by angrily calling the court system “wicked” and two of the prosecutors “evil” after Tory’s guilty verdict was announced, resulting in him being forcibly removed from the courtoom.
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He continued his tirade outside the courthouse, where he directed his anger at Megan’s attorney Alex Spiro, Roc Nation COO Desiree Perez, “and the whole wicked system of Roc Nation, including you, JAY-Z.”
