LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California prosecutor told jurors Wednesday hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion would never have faced the barrage of public insults she’s received if she hadn’t told the truth about rapper Tory Lanez, who shot her in the feet and wounded her in the summer of 2020.
Assistant District Attorney Alexander Bott said the jury should believe Megan’s fear – evident in her testimony last week – and her courage to fight back. The jury should also do justice to Megan by convicting Lanez, he said, citing the contempt she received online and in parts of the hip-hop community.
“Why would she lie?” said the Los Angeles District Attorney. “She is subjected to a torrent of hatred. For what? Because you came forward as a victim of domestic violence?”
In his own closing speech, Lanez’s defense attorney, George Mgdesyan, gave the jury what he called absolutely good reason for Megan to lie: Being bullied by Lanez was a better public story than the embarrassing, potentially career-damaging truth that she was told by her best friend was shot dead – not Lanez – in a jealous fight over him.
“Megan Pete is a liar. She lied about everything in this case from the start,” Mgdesyan said. “She lied here under oath.”
He said Lanez actually battled Megan’s former girlfriend Kelsey Harris to stop her from shooting and that a pause was heard on an audio recording amid the five shots fired on the night of July 12, 2020 was proof of that.
“He was trying to protect her,” Mgdesyan said.
Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, arrives in court in Los Angeles Tuesday to testify in the trial of rapper Tory Lanez.Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Mgdesyan poked fun at Megan’s experience in the years that followed.
“It was so bad for her,” he said. “She won Grammys. It was number one on the Billboard charts.
“You know who it was bad for? That man over there,’ said Mgdesyan, pointing to Lanez. “He couldn’t work. He had to go through that with his family for 2 1/2 years.”
Canadian rapper Lanez, 30, real name Daystar Peterson, has pleaded not guilty to count of negligent handing over of a firearm, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle. The charges could result in up to 22 years in prison and deportation.
Bott said Megan’s testimony was sufficient in itself to convict, but it was supported by layers of other evidence, including accounts from other eyewitnesses and apologies from Lanez.
Megan testified that she left a gathering at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills home in an SUV with Lanez, his bodyguard and Harris. Megan and Harris have since become estranged.
She said an argument broke out which resulted in her insulting Lanez’s music, which made him particularly angry. She testified that as she started walking away from the SUV, he shot her feet and yelled, “Dance, b――!”
Megan required surgery to remove bullet fragments.
When Harris took the witness stand, she said she didn’t remember Lanez firing the gun and she only assumed he did when minutes later she texted that “Tory shot Megan.” sent a man to work as security for Megan. She denied firing the gun herself.
But prosecutors were then allowed to play an interview Harris conducted with them in September, in which she positively identified Lanez as the shooter.
Daystar Peterson, the Canadian rapper known as Tory Lanez, is out on bail after being charged with assault for allegedly shooting rapper Megan Thee Stallion at her feet.AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes
In an email to The Associated Press, Harris’ attorney Daniel Nardoni did not comment on her role, saying he urged her to invoke her 5th Amendment rights in the Stand despite prosecutors’ partial immunity.
Mgdesyan asked the jury to weigh the likelihood of violence resulting from offending a person’s music or a fight between two women over a man.
“What’s more likely to lead to a gunfight?” he said.
He told jurors it was clear Megan was lying because she denied being in an argument of any importance with Harris, although a defense witness saw the stopped SUV from his nearby balcony and said he had the see both women fighting violently in the car. The witness, Sean Kelly, also testified that he saw muzzle flashes coming from a woman as the shots were fired.
But prosecutors also used the man’s testimony, who said he saw a small man “shooting everywhere”.
Mgdesyan said Megan changed over time to say she went to the front of the SUV rather than the back to match her description of Lanez shooting at her from above the open car door. He said she invented the “dance, b――!” line that no one else testified to hearing to explain why she looked over her shoulder to see him firing.
Rapper Tory Lanez, 30, leaves the courthouse Tuesday in Los Angeles while holding his five-year-old son Kai’Lon. The Canadian rapper has pleaded not guilty to counts of negligence in disposing of a firearm, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle.AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes
The lawyer used the picture to joke about his client’s size.
“He’s 5ft 2, I don’t know if he can even get over a car to shoot!” said Mgdesyan, making Lanez laugh, who was watching from the defending table in a blue suit and black turtleneck.
Mgdesyan told the judge earlier in the day that Lanez would not testify. The defense was scheduled to complete its closures on Thursday, with the jury receiving the case after prosecutors rebutted it.
Bott ended his presentation Wednesday by quoting Megan’s testimony, in which she said there were times when “I wish he’d just shot me.”
“Megan is important,” Bott said. “This case is important. Blame him for shooting Megan for nothing more than a bruised ego.”
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