{"id":150124,"date":"2022-12-06T21:44:17","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T21:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/tory-lanez-hit-with-third-felony-charge-in-megan-thee-stallion-case-rolling-stone\/"},"modified":"2022-12-06T21:44:17","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T21:44:17","slug":"tory-lanez-hit-with-third-felony-charge-in-megan-thee-stallion-case-rolling-stone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/tory-lanez-hit-with-third-felony-charge-in-megan-thee-stallion-case-rolling-stone\/","title":{"rendered":"Tory Lanez Hit With Third Felony Charge in Megan Thee Stallion Case \u2013 Rolling Stone"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tTory Lanez has<\/span> been hit with a third felony charge as he awaits opening statements in his trial over claims he shot Megan Thee Stallion in her feet more than two years ago.<\/p>\n

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\tProsecutors added the new charge of discharging a firearm with gross negligence on Monday, amid ongoing jury selection in the case, Rolling Stone<\/em> has learned.<\/p>\n

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\tLanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, previously pleaded not guilty to one felony count each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. He also faces a gun allegation that he personally inflicted great bodily injury.<\/p>\n

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\tThe new charge carries a possible six-year prison sentence and still qualifies as a deportable crime if jurors opt to convict him of negligent discharge as opposed to the more serious assault count. (The Alone at Prom<\/em> performer is a Canadian citizen.) If convicted on all counts, Peterson still is facing the same maximum sentence of 22 years and eight months. The new charge doesn’t add to the exposure because it relates to the same alleged conduct, so any related sentence would run concurrent.<\/p>\n

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\tPeterson, 30, is accused of pointing a semiautomatic 9mm handgun at Megan’s feet, yelling, \u201cDance, bitch!\u201d and opening fire in the predawn hours of July 12, 2020.<\/p>\n

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\tPeterson and Megan had been traveling in a Cadillac Escalade with Megan’s best friend, Kelsey Harris, and Peterson’s bodyguard when an argument caused Megan to exit the vehicle on a dark residential street in the Hollywood Hills, according to testimony at Peterson’s preliminary hearing last year.<\/p>\n

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\tAn LAPD detective testified that he was assigned to the case two days after the shooting and interviewed Megan, born Megan Pete, over the phone on July 16, 2020, and then again on Nov. 12, 2020. He said the \u201cSavage\u201d singer clearly identified Peterson as her assailant.<\/p>\n

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\t\u201cAs she exited the vehicle, she heard Mr. Peterson yelling obscenities at her, and he stated, ‘Dance, bitch!’ And he then began firing a weapon at her,\u201d Det. Ryan Stogner tested.<\/p>\n

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\t\tEditor’s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

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\t\u201c(Megan) observed Mr. Peterson holding a firearm, and then she observed him start to shoot,\u201d Stogner said. \u201cMegan immediately felt pain to her feet, observed blood, fell to the ground, and then crawled to an adjacent driveway of a residence\u2026 She described her injuries as bleeding profusely.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tHe said Megan initially lied and told police, saying that she had stepped on glass because she was in fear of how the officers might respond.<\/p>\n

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\t\u201cShe said that at the time, she was extremely scared and embarrassed, and due to the fact that she was friends with the defendant, she was scared that he was going to get in trouble, and she also expressed some concerns regarding the political climate regarding police and shootings,\u201d Stogner tested. \u201cShe She was afraid that there had been recent police shootings, and she described her concern about the police possibly shooting the defendant since he had just committed a shooting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tStogner said medical records from Cedars-Sinai Hospital confirmed doctors found bullet fragments in both of Megan’s feet.<\/p>\n

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\tFor her part, Harris hasn’t spoken publicly about the shooting, but her friendship with Megan has become estranged. She appeared under a subpoena from prosecutors at a prior hearing and is due to testify in the case.<\/p>\n

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\tDuring a motion hearing on Monday, Tory’s new defense lawyer George Mgdesyan argued that prosecutors should be barred from mentioning in their opening statement that Peterson allegedlyd to Harris during a jail call after the shooting. He said unless Harris testsifies and lays an adequate foundation for the call, it should remain off-limits.<\/p>\n

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\tLos Angeles County Judge <\/strong>David Herriford said that as long as prosecutors have a good-faith belief Harris will testify, he would allow them to state what they believe the evidence will show. He also said another witness might be able to lay the necessary foundation. Either way, prosecutors confirmed they expect Harris will testify.<\/p>\n

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\t\tRelated<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

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\tThe rough contents of the jail call were revealed at Peterson’s probable cause hearing last December. \u201cThe defendant continued to apologize for the incident that occurred. He told Kelsey basically that he was drunk, and he was sorry for what he had done,\u201d Stogner testified, adding that he personally reviewed the jail call purportedly placed shortly after the shooting.<\/p>\n

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\tUnder cross-examination last year, Stogner said Megan and Harris had been close friends for about seven years but apparently \u201cstopped their friendship\u201d shortly after the incident.<\/p>\n

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\tAs she grilled Stogner under cross-examination, Peterson’s lawyer at the time, Shawn Holley, claimed the \u201cargument in the car escalated\u201d because Peterson claimed he and Megan had been in some type of intimate relationship, and Harris became upset because she \u201chad a romantic interest in Tory.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tHolley then suggested maybe Harris fired the weapon, zeroing in on a portion of a statement from a third-party eyewitness who reported seeing some of the incidents from his nearby balcony. The witness purportedly said it appeared to him that the muzzle flash was closest to the non-victim female at the time of the shooting.<\/p>\n

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\tOn Monday, prosecutors asked Judge Herriford to rule that if Peterson declines to testify, his lawyers should be barred from pursuing a \u201cthird-party culpability defense\u201d in which they might name a different possible shooter. Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott said the statement from the eyewitness on the balcony was all over the place and that the witness has firmly stated he \u201cdoesn’t know who the shooter is.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tAccording to Bott, the man’s first statement claimed that \u201cnine people got out of the car: five men and four women.\u201d (There were only four people in the car.) The man also allegedly claimed at one point that he was woken up by the gunshots and didn’t see the shooting, Bott told the court. \u201cEvery time he gave a statement, the details shifted,\u201d Bott said. \u201cHe’s grossly unreliable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\ttrending<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

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\tJudge Herriford said Monday that prosecutors would have to file a written motion on the matter before he would make a ruling.<\/p>\n

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\tOpening statements in the trial are set to begin on Dec. 12.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n