The Canadian rapper says he feels 'amazing' when released from custody after he's handcuffed in court as judge found he violated the protective order in his case with Megan Thee Stallion.
- Apr 6, 2022
AceShowbiz - Tory Lanez's lawyer is seemingly trying to put the blame on Megan Thee Stallion's ex-BFF and former assistant Kelsey Harris in the shooting case. In her arguments regarding the July 2020 incident, Shawn Holley suggested that Kelsey might be the actual shooter.
During a preliminary hearing in December 2021, Shawn disputed an LAPD detective's claims about the incident. Detective Ryan Stogner, who was assigned to the case two days after the shooting, said Megan told him over the phone that she saw Tory pulling the trigger when she exited the car.
Holley then pointed out Tory's testimony that Megan and Kelsey had a dispute shortly before the shooting. She went on to suggest that Kelsey may have had possession of the gun when it fired because investigators found gunshot residue on her hand. The lawyer also said a man who witnessed the shooting from a nearby residence said he believed the muzzle flash was closest to the non-victim female at the time of the shooting.
Ryan, however, said in December gunshot residue can transfer to someone who's "in the vicinity" of a gun that's discharged. The detective also raised questions about the credibility of the eyewitness testimony, saying the man reported seeing two men and a woman physically beating Pete.
These new details were brought to light by Rolling Stone when reporting Tory's release from custody on Tuesday, April 5. The Canadian rapper was handcuffed in a Los Angeles courtroom after a judge found he violated the protective order in his case with Megan.
Judge David Herriford revoked Tory's prior bail of $250,000 and raised it to $350,000 after finding that he violated court orders prohibiting him from contacting or harassing Megan or discussing any discovery in the case with outside parties.
During the hearing, Tory's lawyer argued her client did not provide YouTube personality DJ Akademiks with any discovery in the case before Akademiks tweeted on February 23 that "Tory Lanez DNA was not found on the weapon in the Meg Thee Stallion case."
"What he said is incorrect," Shawn told the court. "What (DJ Akademiks) said is that the DNA was not found on the weapon. And in fact, the swab of the gun indicates 'inconclusive,' that there were four contributors," she argued.
"The court cannot conclude the defendant distributed anything, however it does appear that he violated the order that prohibits him from making any statements regarding discovery," the judge concluded.
The judge denied prosecutors' request to lock the musician up with no bail, calling it "extreme." The judge, however, added a new "crystal clear" condition of release, stating that Tory "cannot mention the complaining witness in this case in any social media."
The 29-year-old, who was joined by his father and several men that morning, had a bondsman with him for the hearing. He was released after spending about five hours in custody. After his bond was posted, he climbed behind the wheel of a waiting Lamborghini, saying he felt "amazing," before he drove off.
"I'm here because this is my son. I'm the first person outside anyone present that day to hear about this. I believe in him. I believe in his innocence," Tory's father Sonstar Peterson said.
Following the hearing, Akademiks revealed that he received the information regarding the DNA swab test from Megan's party instead. "I got it from Roc Nation … *shrug*," he tweeted on Tuesday. Megan signed a management deal with Jay-Z's company in 2019.
