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Megan Thee Stallion's lawyer, Alex Spiro, dismissed the claims by Tory Lanez, or Daystar Shemuel Shua Peterson, that the gun used to shoot the former was missing.
According to legal affairs reporter Meghann Cuniff, citing a statement given by Spiro on Monday, October 28, 2024, the gun and its magazine were "there and available" in LAPD's (Los Angeles Police Department) custody.
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Spiro's comment was a response to Lanez's latest appellate petition filing. It stated that the firearm and bullet fragments connected with the shooting were missing, which hindered the singer's ability to prove his innocence.
For the unversed, Tory Lanez is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence after being found guilty of shooting Megan back in 2020. The case involved a roadside argument between the two singers and Megan's then-best friend, Kelsey Harris, which ended in the Houston rapper being shot in the foot.
Tory Lanez's lawyers claimed that the absence of evidence violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights
Tory Lanez's attorneys, Crystal Morgan and Michael Hayden, are from Unite the People, a non-profit to which the Canadian rapper is a donor and board member. These attorneys filed the appeal petition on Lanez's behalf last week.
According to Meghann Cuniff, citing the legal document, their client could not "file any claim of innocence" as he was unable to "conduct further testing" as the "firearm and bullet fragments" were missing.
The petition alleged that by "failing to preserve the material and exculpatory evidence," the prosecutors were violating their client's "First and Fourteenth Amendment rights." They further asserted that, as a result, Tory Lanez's 10-year sentence should be vacated.
While the Lady of Namek hitmaker's legal counsel claimed that DNA evidence played an important role in his conviction, Cuniff noted that during the trial, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott specifically stated that it was not part of the "bucket of evidence" they used to prove his guilt.
On Friday, October 25, the appellate court released an order saying they would consider all of Lanez's petitions together. This also includes the Canadian rapper's wrongful imprisonment appeal and another petition filed after Tory Lanez's driver, Jauquan Smith, submitted a post-trial statement.
In July 2024, Smith submitted a post-trial statement detailing what happened in 2020. He alleged that he didn't see who actually shot the Mamushi singer but saw Kelsey holding the gun at one point and Lanez trying to disarm her.
However, just hours after the court's order, Unite the People took to its Instagram to announce that the court had accepted Lanez's innocence claim. This led to misinformation circulation across social media platforms.
Subsequently, Alex Spiro vowed to "take action" against those who sparked the rumors. Questioning why Unite the People was working on Tory's case, he said:
"There are lots of people in jail that need help who tell the truth and who are innocent and deserve to be freed. I’d rather they spend their time on that than nonsense like this."
If Tory Lanez's appeal is approved and his sentence is vacated, the rapper would still be held in prison, and his case would return to the Los Angeles County Superior Court for another sentencing.
Lanez's lawyer is yet to publicly comment on this recent development.
