Tory Lanez’s lawyers are seeking to get their client released on probation and placed into a drug treatment program when he’s sentenced next week for shooting Megan Thee Stallion.
According to Law&Crime reporter Meghann Cuniff, the rapper’s attorneys, Jose Baez and Ed Welbourn, filed a 41-page memo on Tuesday (August 1) in which they claim their client was suffering from alcoholism at the time of the alleged shooting and his culpability was therefore reduced.
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The memo, which includes a report from a psychologist who met with Tory (real name Daystar Peterson) in jail last month, details his traumatic childhood — including the violence, abuse, grief and neglect he experienced growing up — that contributed to him developing an alcohol problem.
It cites the death of his mother when he was 11 years old, his stint living with three of his brother’s friends “in an area that was ‘crack infested’ and plagued by violence” after bouncing around relatives, and his brushes with death after being stabbed and shot at as a teen.
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Even after breaking into the music industry, it claims, Tory continued to use alcohol and marijuana “as a means of coping with stress and unresolved traumas from his childhood.”
Despite questioning the evidence in the case that helped convict Lanez on all three counts last December, his lawyers argue that “assuming the allegations in this case are true,” his alcohol-use-disorder played a “significant role in the commission of the offense.”
The memo also highlights Tory’s charitable and community efforts and argues he “presents a low risk for violent recidivism in the community.”
“It’s an interesting mix of ‘I’m innocent, but assuming I’m guilty, it’s because my alcoholism is a mental disorder,'” Cuniff tweeted, providing more context to the memo.
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In the filing, Baez and Wilbourn acknowledge that Tory Lanez is “presumptively ineligible for probation” because jurors found true two aggravating circumstances: that he fired a weapon and that he inflicted great bodily harm on Megan Thee Stallion when he shot her in the feet in July 2020.
However, California law allows for exceptions in unusual cases, and they claim Lanez’s case “is an unusual case in which the interests of justice would best be served if Mr. Peterson is granted probation.”
In the event that Judge David Herriford rejects their probation request, Baez and Wilbourn are asking for their client to receive the lower term of three years in prison, which they say aligns with Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón’s policies.
The prosecution had previously recommended Tory serve 13 years behind bars, claiming he “demonstrated a high level of callousness” and “high degree of indifference for human life” when he allegedly shot Megan.
They also cited the rapper’s online posts and statements which “re-traumatized his victim” and “emboldened his followers.”
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Tory Lanez will learn his fate at 10:30 a.m. on Monday (August 7) when he’s sentenced at the criminal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.
