In the meantime, the 30-year-old Canadian rapper's new defense attorney Jose Baez suggests that 'numerous errors' were made during the felony trial back in December.
- Jan 19, 2023
AceShowbiz - Tory Lanez may need to take more time before making any decision. The Canadian hip-hop star reportedly regrets not testifying in his own defense during Megan Thee Stallion shooting trial.
According to Rolling Stone, while the "Say It" rapper awaits sentencing for assaulting the Hot Girl Meg with a semiautomatic firearm, a source said that he feels his trial lawyer misled him into not testifying in his own defense. The insider claimed that the emcee wanted to take the witness stand to plead his case directly to jurors but was dissuaded by former defense lawyer George Mgdesyan.
George, however, won't take part in Tory's appeal. Speaking to Page Six, the California-based attorney said, "I did not get fired. I'm still friends with them. I met with Tory's dad. I went and visited Tory, so I wanted to be very clear because I know there are people who are reporting facts that are not true."
George further clarified that he did not "resign" either. The lawyer and Tory simply agreed it would be best for the 30-year-old rapper to hire an appeals attorney since he doesn't "do appeals." The criminal defense attorney added, "I'm a trial lawyer. I don't have time for appeals. I'm in court every day. I try probably five to seven cases a year, so it's a lot of trial work, court work. For an appeal lawyer, you've got to have your office reading transcripts and I am not one of those lawyers."
Although George is not directly representing Tory anymore, he says he is "still part of the case" because he continues to advise the "LUV" singer's new team. "It's not like I'm washing my hands and we're not part of the team anymore, I'm just not going to be doing the day to day," he said, "The decision was made to hire somebody who works with the appeal lawyer, but I'm still helping to see what I could do to help the defense."
Tory has hired Casey Anthony's former defense lawyer Jose Baez, Suge Knight's ex-lawyer David Kenner and an attorney named Matthew Barhoma.
Earlier this week, Jose told TMZ that he's confident in the appeal. "Looking at this case, I certainly wish I had come in sooner as opposed to later," he said, "Unfortunately, this is the way that it is, but he's got me now and I'm certainly willing to give him everything I have and hopefully, we'll get the best result possible for him."
Jose also suggested that "numerous errors" were made during the felony trial. "Now, when you have a high-profile case, there's a lot more things to worry about. A lot more things for the judiciary to worry about, a lot more things for the defense lawyers to worry about, a lot more things for the prosecution to worry about. So all players are now playing with additional work and need to be protecting those safeguards to ensure that there's a safe trial to begin with," he explained.
"And I have to tell you, 9 out of 10 times, we get it wrong," Jose shared, "So I would say that there's probably a significant chance that there are numerous errors that are within the system and within this case that should be explored, and see if perhaps the results would have been different should it gone the other way."
Tory was found guilty of three counts in connection to the alleged shooting, including felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm, possession of a concealed, unregistered firearm and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. He faces up to 22 years and eight months in prison as well as deportation to Canada. He's due to be sentenced on January 27, but that date has since been rescheduled to February 28 due to a change in his legal counsel.
