Did the Jury get it right in the Tory Lanez trial?

On Friday, December 23, 2022, the jury found Rapper Tory Lanez guilty on all counts in his epic Los Angeles trial for shooting fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion.

After the trial, Megan Thee Stallion’s attorney, Alex Spiro, issued the following statement:

“The jury got it right,” “I am thankful there is justice for Meg.”

Alex Spiro

Lanez, 30, whose birth name is Daystar Peterson, is now facing a maximum sentence of more than 22 years in prison and possible deportation back to Canada.
The jury found him guilty of discharging a firearm with gross negligence, assault with a semiautomatic handgun, and carrying a loaded, unregistered gun in a vehicle.

Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, told the court that the accused shot at her feet five times shortly after a party she attended in the Hollywood Hills on July 12, 2020. She said the shooting occurred after a heated argument in the car between her and the accused, during which they attacked each other’s music

“I feel like I said something that rubbed him the wrong way,” she said during testimony, according to news reports. “He kept yelling and cursing.”

So, she got out of the vehicle and began walking away when a riled-up Lanez leaned out a window and opened fire, leaving the back of her feet wounded. And at one point, he yelled, “Dance, bitch!” she said in her testimony. 

She said she needed surgery to remove bullet fragments in her feet.

Immediately after the court read the verdict, L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón issued a statement praising Megan Thee Stallion’s “bravery.” He said she “showed incredible courage and vulnerability” with her testimony “despite repeated and grotesque attacks” that she “did not deserve.”

“Women, especially Black women, are afraid to report crimes like assault and sexual violence because they are too often not believed,” Gascón said.

George Gascon

Speaking to CBS News by phone Lanez’s attorney, George Mgdesyan, called the verdict disappointing. However, he stated that the legal team would explore all options, including an appeal.