Tory Lanez has returned to a Los Angeles courtroom to find out if he would get a new trial after his conviction for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in 2020.
The Canadian rapper learned on Tuesday, the answer was “no”.
“The court finds no error, prosecutorial misconduct or newly discovered evidence,” Los Angeles Judge David Herriford said, according to City News Service.
“Motion dismissed,” the judge said.
The hearing lasted two days. On Monday, Lanez begged the judge to grant him a new trial and not send him to jail for up to two decades.
“Please don’t decide my life. I could be your son. I could be your brother, ” lanez said to the judge, who is black.
The 30-year-old rap star is now set to be sentenced on June 13.
Related story: Tory Lanez Writes Open Letter to Los Angeles County DA Trashing Prosecutors
The rapper was convicted on December 23, 2022 of assault with a semi-automatic firearm; grossly negligently discharging a firearm; and transporting a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle; as well as the special allegation of use of a firearm to inflict grievous bodily harm.
Lanez, born Daystar Peterson, faces up to 22 years and eight months in state prison and deportation.
He was due to be sentenced on January 27. The date was then moved to February 28, before being postponed to April 10, then to April 17 and May 8.
The delays came after Lanez replaced his attorney George Mgdesyan with famed defense attorney Jose Baez in January. Baez secured Casey Anthony’s acquittal during his 2011 trial for the murder of his young daughter, Caylee Anthony.
The “It Doesn’t Matter” rapper’s new legal team filed a motion for a new trial in March, saying “the court was wrong on many issues of law.”
The motion claimed jurors were “wrongfully allowed” to see a September 2020 Instagram comment attributed to Lanez about the case. The motion blamed the rapper’s content creator for writing the comment on a post from The shadow room.
The new defense team also claimed that prosecutors misrepresented DNA evidence in court, depriving Lanez of a “fair trial”.
The March filing said, “The only acceptable remedy for this miscarriage of justice is a new trial.”
Related story: Tory Lanez profusely apologizes after Megan Thee Stallion shooting, prosecutor says
With the motion denied, Baez is now waiting to hear how long his client will spend in jail.
Lanez was arrested after Megan Thee Stallion, real name Megan Pete, was shot in the feet after leaving a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s house in Hollywood Hills on July 12, 2020.
Lanez’s original attorney claimed during the trial that Megan’s former friend Kelsey Harris fired the shots – which Kelsey and Megan both denied during their court testimony. The defense claimed Kelsey was upset because Lanez slept with the two women.
Prosecutors said a drunk Lanez got into an SUV with Megan and Kelsey. After an argument broke out and Megan got out of the vehicle, he told her “dance b-ch”, before opening fire on her feet.
The judge handling the case recently lifted a gag order — which allowed Lanez to write an open letter on Instagram to Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón on Instagram.
“Today I take a stand as an innocent black man, wrongfully convicted of a crime I did not commit,” Lanez wrote in the post. “I have seen two district attorneys in your office by the name of Kathy Ta and Alex Bott unlawfully abuse their authority to conceal and suppress any exculpatory evidence that exonerates me or promotes my innocence. I have been completely robbed and deprived of my a fair trial.
In a follow-up post, Lanez asked his followers to pray for the judge to bring him “to freedom.”
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