Rapper Tory Lanez leaves criminal courtroom in downtown Los Angeles with her son in her arms on Tuesday, December 20, 2022. (Photo by Meghann M. Cuniff/Law&Crime)
On Wednesday, a prosecutor urged jurors to convict the rapper Tory Lanez for allegedly shooting Stallion Megan Thee “for nothing more than a bruised ego,” beginning and ending her 75-minute closing argument with the three-time Grammy Award-winning artist’s own trial testimony, calling her a “victim of domestic violence.”
“If I had known that coming out and speaking my truth would result in people agreeing that I would be shot, if I had known, I would have started to lose my confidence,” said the Los Angeles County District Attorney. Alexandre Bott said, quoting an excerpt from Megan’s testimony on Dec. 13, which was also screened for the jury.
Bott told jurors that “after more than two years of this torture,” Lanez must be convicted of assault with a firearm and intentional and negligent discharge of a firearm, and reminded jurors that they can convict based only on one person’s testimony. .
“If you believe Megan and what she said last Tuesday, this case is closed. Were realized. If you believe Megan, that’s enough,” Bott said. He added that Megan was on her guard when she started testifying in the morning, but after the lunch break, “those walls came down” and “I think everyone in this courtroom felt something that day.”
“This is the critical question in this case: Was Meg telling the truth that afternoon?” Bott asked. “I think everyone in this courtroom knows the answer to that question.”
But jurors have a lot more to say than Megan’s testimony, he said, citing an apology phone call Lanez made to Megan’s now-former friend. Kelsey Nicole Harris from prison. Bott said he and his co-counsel, Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta I can’t find a way to interpret this as anything other than Lanez apologizing for shooting Megan, reading lines from a transcript of the call as “I was so drunk” and “I just didn’t understand what was going on” and “I never did.” this shit if I wasn’t so drunk.”
“There is nothing in this call that implies that Kelsey did anything other than try to help her best friend,” Bott said. He also referenced texts Lanez sent Megan at 8:59 pm on the day of the shooting that said in part: “I really want you to know that I’m so sorry from the bottom of my heart.”
“He’s apologizing to Megan for firing five shots at her with a semiautomatic,” Bott said.
Jury deliberations are expected to begin on Thursday.
Jurors will return to the Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David HerrifordCourt Thursday to End Lanez Lawyer Discussion George Mgdesyan🇧🇷 Defense counsel told the jury Wednesday that Lanez is falsely accused and that Harris is the one who fired five shots in Megan’s direction early on July 12, 2020, in the Hollywood Hills when Lanez, Megan and Harris were ejected from a reality meeting. Star Kylie Jenneris at home.
He prefaced his argument with a proclamation: “This is an unfortunate case. Someone got shot. Megan Pete got shot,” he added, using Megan’s legal name.
Mgdeysan emphasized that he is not denying that Megan was shot. But he asked the judges to also consider what Lanez has been through over the past two years.
“My client is being falsely accused. Megan Pete is a liar. She lied about everything in this case,” Mgdesyan told the jury, repeatedly asking why Megan did not publicly reveal earlier that she had sex with Lanez.
“How do you believe anything Megan Pete says, ladies and gentlemen? And keep reasonable doubt in mind,” Mgdesyan said.
He also questioned how much Megan really suffered, citing her Grammys and her being “number one on Billboard”, but somehow she wants the jury to believe that “it’s been so bad for her”.
“You know who it’s been bad for? That man over there,” Mgdesyan said, pointing at Lanez as he took a seat at the defense table.
Mgdesyan said that Lanez’s apology call from prison to Harris was not about the shooting, but about the romantic falling out that caused it, and repeatedly referenced Judge Herriford’s decision to allow Harris to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and prosecutors’ decision to grant her immunity on the grounds that she was trying to hide her criminality.
‘These are the actions of a best friend’
Bott had previously detailed evidence that he says indicates Harris was acting not as a guilty assailant but as a best friend after Megan was shot, including three text messages she sent to Megan’s now-former bodyguard minutes after the shooting. gunfire that said, “Help” “Tory shot meg” “911.” Bott said that would constitute “incriminating the defendant within five minutes” under Mgesyan’s argument that Harris is the one who shot Megan.
Bott also referenced bloodstains on Harris that show Megan was leaning her injured and bleeding feet on her then-friend before LAPD, responding to 911 calls, stopped the Escalade and ordered everyone out at gunpoint. from a gun. He also referenced a police bodycam video that includes Harris asking Megan if she’s okay.
“These are the actions of a best friend. This is how a best friend would react to seeing their best friend shot,” Bott said. He said the women’s broken friendship is “a sad story” but it’s not rooted in the shooting, it’s rooted in its aftermath.
“It was like a really bad phone game between Megan and Kelsey where they just weren’t communicating,” Bott said. “It got out of hand.”
The prosecutor also addressed Harris’ testimony that she never saw Lanez with a gun and that she made false statements to prosecutors during a taped interview, saying, “Something happened to Kelsey.”
“Something scared her. Something got to her. Maybe she accepted one of those bribes,” Bott said, referring to testimony that Lanez offered $1 million if the women didn’t say anything.
Though she vividly remembered mundane details about that night, “she had amnesia in court” regarding Lanez’s conduct, Bott said, despite an apparently candid interview with prosecutors in September that was presented to the jury in full after Mgdesyan repeatedly implied in her questioning of Harris that prosecutors had undue pressured her.
Still, Bott said Harris wouldn’t go so far as to get involved on the witness stand in an effort to save Lanez.
‘Kelsey has been compromised’
Bott acknowledged that he told the jury in his opening statement that Megan’s former bodyguard justin edison was going to testify, and he did not, but he did reference Harris’ appearance on the witness stand by suggesting that Edison intentionally dodged the trial.
“We saw that Kelsey was compromised in this very courtroom,” Bott said. But he did bring to the jury’s attention something Mgdesyan said in his opening that didn’t happen in the deposition, about Megan and Harris’ alleged shared interest in the rapper. DaBaby and Brooklyn Nets star ben simmons🇧🇷
“What does that have to do with this case? Was that just to embarrass the girls? Bott asked, referring to women.
Bott cited Megan’s testimony that she was uncomfortable testifying because she had to sit in the same room as people who “continuously spread misinformation to make me look like a bad person” and because “I have to sit next to Tory.” The affidavit was displayed to jurors alongside a photo of the rapper, including one with the affidavit quote: “It seems like every man in a position of power in the music industry, even people who aren’t even rappers, never cared about what they did. that my side of the story was,” which Bott read aloud.
“See what performing has done to your life, career and reputation,” Bott told the jury. “Do you think she wants to be here?”
Bott also drew attention to defense witness Sean KellyLanez’s testimony that Lanez was “shooting everywhere” and fired “four to five” at a woman, then launched “a torrent of abuse” and asked jurors not to focus on what happened at the party. Jenner. Mgdesyan, however, said the conflict at Jenner’s helps jurors understand how the heated conflict involved the women when he argues that Harris shot Megan because Jenner ordered Megan to leave after a conflict over Lanez.
“Do you really believe Megan Pete wasn’t upset that my client was in the pool with Kylie? Do you really believe that?” Mgdesyan asked the jury.
He acknowledged that Lanez “may have disclosed his relationship with Megan to Kelsey” and that Megan and Lanez “were very close. They were dating. They were seeing each other a lot.
But Bott said what finally prompted Lanez to fire the gun was “when Meg assaulted the defendant’s skills as an artist.” He also asked why Megan would lie about Lanez shooting her after initially telling police that she had not been shot, even though she was hospitalized with shrapnel in her feet and underwent surgery. He displayed pictures of his injured feet that elicited murmurs from the gallery.
There was a lighthearted moment for Lanez when Mgdesyan mentioned his height, saying he’s “what, 5ft-2?” when questioning Megan’s testimony and Kelsey’s statement to prosecutors that Lanez was shooting at the door of the Escalade.
“I don’t even know if he can jump through the door to shoot,” Mgdesyan said, as Lanez laughed from the defense table.
Judge Herriford ordered the jury to return Thursday at 9:45 am.
(Image: Photo by Meghann M. Cuniff/Law&Crime)
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