Tory Lanez‘s lawyer has suggested “numerous errors” were made during the Megan Thee Stallion shooting trial.
The Canadian rapper was found guilty in December of shooting Megan in the feet during a drunken dispute following a party at Kylie Jenner’s house in the Hollywood Hills in July 2020.
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But according to Lanez’s new lawyer, Jose Baez — the defense attorney best known for helping Casey Anthony avoid prison and former NFL player Aaron Hernandez beat a double murder case — the trial could have gone a lot differently.
“Looking at this case, I certainly wish I had come in sooner as opposed to later,” he told TMZ. “Unfortunately, this is the way that it is, but he’s got me now and I’m certainly willing to give him everything I have and hopefully, we’ll get the best result possible for him.
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“As you may know, Tory has never been convicted of a crime and he has never had to deal with the circumstances that he’s dealing with, so the adjustment that he’s going through is new to him. To his credit, he’s listening to his lawyers, he’s an incredibly articulate young man.”
He added: “In all of that, there are things that certainly in the trial he wished had gone the other way … He’s trying his best to adjust to everything. In light of the fact that he’s never been in this situation before, it’s really a tough process to go through.”
Jose Baez went on to explain how errors in court aren’t uncommon, and how high-profile cases add a lot more pressure to everyone involved.
“I haven’t even made an appearance yet so I don’t think it’s proper for me to comment on the evidence, but I will say this much: there’s mistakes in trials all the time,” he said. “It’s a human system, it’s going to produce errors, regardless.
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“Now, when you have a high-profile case, there’s a lot more things to worry about. A lot more things for the judiciary to worry about, a lot more things for the defense lawyers to worry about, a lot more things for the prosecution to worry about. So all players are now playing with additional work and need to be protecting those safeguards to ensure that there’s a safe trial to begin with.”
He continued: “And I have to tell you, 9 out of 10 times, we get it wrong. So I would say that there’s probably a significant chance that there are numerous errors that are within the system and within this case that should be explored, and see if perhaps the results would have been different should it gone the other way.”
Tory Lanez was found guilty of three counts in connection to the alleged shooting, including felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm, possession of a concealed, unregistered firearm and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
He faces up to 22 years and eight months in prison, as well as 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 a shakeup of his legal team.
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In addition to Baez, Tory has hired 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.
The attorneys are currently gearing up to file a motion for a new trial that would toss his three convictions.
