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Tory Lanez Won’t Face Two New Witness Tampering Charges Under Judge’s Rules – Rolling Stone

December 21, 2022

Prosecutors tried to Add two new witness tampering charges to Tory Lanez’s felony assault trial on Monday, but were closed by the judge who said he waited too long.

Los Angeles Assistant District Attorney Kathy Ta filed her motion for the new charges on Monday, citing California Penal Code 136.1, which makes it a crime to attempt to deter a witness.

“It is based on the testimony of the victim and Mrs (Kelsey) Harris”, on “the statements that the defendant made in the car, offering them a million dollars” to keep silent about the shooting which injured Megan on both feet on July 12, 2020, Ta told the court.

Judge David Herriford responded by asking why prosecutors waited so long given that Megan made the underlying allegation early in the case. Ta said she wasn’t sure how Harris was going to testify, but given that she appeared to corroborate Megan’s claim during her turn on the witness stand, they decided to drop the case. on the alleged “1 million dollar bribe”.

Lanez’s defense attorney, George Mgdsyan, argued Monday, saying prosecutors had known since September what Harris’ testimony was likely to be, and the court agreed. Herriford said the late addition put the defense in a “difficult position” in terms of planning and response time.

“I think it’s unfair at this point, so I would deny this request,” the judge said.

Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson and is a Canadian citizen, pleaded not guilty to three felony charges in the high-profile case, including assault with a firearm causing grievous bodily harm; hiding an unregistered loaded firearm in a vehicle; and the recently added count of grossly negligently discharging a firearm.

If found guilty of the charges against him, the Alone at the ball The rapper faces 22 years and eight months in prison and subsequent deportation.

Earlier Monday, prosecutors were unable to locate an important witness and asked the court for an additional day to present their case or permission to reopen their presentation after the defense had rested. Although the witness was not named, a source said rolling stone that prosecutors were referring to Megan’s former bodyguard, Justin Edison.

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Over the weekend, Megan’s attorney Alex Spiro said Edison had “disappeared” ahead of his expected testimony in the case. “He was ready to testify. He’s someone who’s always plugged in, on the network, responsive, and just as he’s about to testify in a violent crime case, he disappears,” Spiro said.

In his opening statement last week, Assistant District Attorney Alexander Bott told jurors Edison would take the stand and said he went to Lanez’s house a day after the shooting and overheard the rapper confess to being the trigger.

“As the court can see, there was significant due diligence with respect to this witness,” Ta argued Monday, asking for more time.

Judge Herriford indicated that he would allow prosecutors to refrain from closing their case while they search for their witness. “Alright, let’s see how far we can go,” he said.

Prosecutors then recalled two previous witnesses before handing over the reins to Peterson’s defense. LAPD Officer Sandra Cabral returned to the stand first to present police body camera footage showing the police stop after the shooting. Jurors saw video of Harris being handcuffed, crying and asking, “Megan, are you okay?” as Megan limped into an ambulance, also handcuffed.

Cabral said she didn’t see Tory Lanez’s “behaviour” as he was handcuffed and stood with his head bowed, facing a wall.

During cross-examination, defense attorney George Mgdesyan asked if Cabral recalled hearing Lanez also express concern for Megan, saying, “Meg-o, are you okay, are you okay?” Prosecutors objected to the question and the judge agreed it was inappropriate, so the officer did not respond.

Prosecutors then called back a DA investigator to ask about the so-called diss track targeting Megan that Harris released in November 2020 called “Bussin Back.” They underlined the lyrics, “You know that wasn’t me” and “All you had to do was clear your best friend’s name”, apparently to further combat the defense theory that Harris could have been the shooter.

Mgdesyan then called Megan’s former stylist, Eric Culberson, to the stand to testify about the party he attended at Kylie Jenner’s house with Megan, Harris and Peterson before filming.

Culberson, known professionally as EJ King, corroborated Harris’ earlier testimony that Megan and Harris left Jenner’s house alone in a Cadillac Escalade with Peteron’s driver before returning to pick up Peterson shortly afterwards. When she testified last week, Megan said she didn’t leave the party until she was able to convince Peterson to join her.

The stylist also said he never heard Megan or Harris say Tory was carrying a gun, and he didn’t see a gun at any time on the night of the alleged shooting.