As Tory Lanez serves a 10-year prison sentence for the shooting that injured Megan Thee Stallion, the rapper’s lawyers are working to appeal his 2022 conviction.
Speaking to a panel of judges in California’s Second District Court of Appeal on Aug. 18, Lanez’s attorney, Crystal Morgan, argued that the DNA evidence the prosecution presented during his trial was misleading, according to Billboard and XXL Magazine.
“It is actually marginally more likely that another member of the African American population touched this gun over Mr. Peterson,” she said, according to the outlets. “If our jury had heard that Mr. Peterson maybe one in a million touched the gun, I believe that would have been enough to tip that scale and show reasonable doubt.”
Another attorney on Lanez’s defense team, Jose A. Baez, told USA TODAY in a statement, “I would say it is a statistical fact that any random African American male was more likely a contributor to the DNA on the gun than Daystar Peterson.
“In fact, the DNA community has a random profile that is used as a control sample, and that profile was determined to match the mixture found on the gun rather than Daystar Peterson,” he continued. “To be clear, it would be reckless and a complete fabrication to say that Tory’s DNA was on that gun and to not exclude him as a contributor.”
‘Recovering remarkably’: Tory Lanez’s father gives health update after prison stabbing
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During arguments on behalf of the prosecution, according to courtroom footage shared by XXL Magazine and journalist Meghann Cuniff, California Deputy Attorney General Michael C. Keller said, “There’s three times in which (Lanez) tacitly admitted to being the shooter.”
Among the evidence, Keller said, was a text to Megan in which he apologized to her for something that “never should have happened,” blamed alcohol for the unspecified action and said she “probably” would never talk to him again. During the trial, Lanez denied that the messages were related to the shooting.
“He was clearly accepting responsibility for something very big,” Keller told the judges, per the videos.
USA TODAY has reached out to the California Attorney General’s office for comment.
During Lanez’s closely watched trial, it was determined that the DNA found on the handgun that discharged the bullet during the 2020 altercation was inconclusive.
In May, Lanez was hospitalized after he was stabbed multiple times by a fellow inmate. Afterward, his father announced that he was “recovering remarkably.”
Tory Lanez dealt legal blow after prison stabbing
The oral arguments took place in Los Angeles nearly a week after appeals court judges largely denied two of his petitions related to the case that brought forth new challenges of his conviction, according to court filings reviewed by USA TODAY.
In the pair of Aug. 12 rulings on Lanez’s habeas corpus petitions, a three-judge panel reprimanded Lanez’s legal team for failing to bring new claims forward in an untimely manner, establish the merits of their cases and follow proper court procedures.
Referencing a witness’ affidavit that the defense claimed was new evidence, the panel wrote, “The petition is untimely, and petitioner fails to explain and justify the significant delay in seeking habeas corpus relief on this basis.” As for two affidavits from Lanez’s driver Jauquan Smith, they are “inadmissible” as they fail to the Code ofCivil Procedure, a ruling said.
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The judges also struck down Lanez’s team’s move to conduct more DNA analysis of the firearm and bullet fragments. Not only did the defense fail to request further DNA testing during the trial, their petition also didn’t adequately establish that “additional DNA testing would establish a claim of actual innocence,” the panel wrote.
Megan Thee Stallion asked Tory Lanez and his fans to ‘stop lying’
Previously, in a May 19 TikTok post, Megan hit back after Lanez’s team indicated they had new information that corroborated his claim that he did not fire the weapon.
“At what point are y’all gonna stop making me have to re-live being shot BY TORY !?” she wrote. “At what point are Tory and y’all FANS gonna stop lying? … FACTS ARE FACTS, he did it, it was PROVEN IN COURT.”
Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, was convicted in 2022 of shooting Megan in the ankle after an alleged argument in the Los Angeles area.
The Canadian singer-songwriter, who pleaded not guilty on all counts ahead of his trial, was found guilty of assault with a semiautomatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
Contributing: Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tory Lanez pushes to overturn conviction in Megan Thee Stallion case