LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 A California prosecutor told jurors Wednesday that hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion would never have subjected herself to the torrent of public abuse she’s received if she wasn’t telling the truth about rapper Tory Lanez shooting her in the feet and wounding her in the summer of 2020.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott said the jury should believe Megan’s anguish \u2014 evident in her testimony last week \u2014 and her courage in fighting through it. Jurors should also provide Megan with justice by convicting Lanez, he said, citing the scorn she received online and in parts of the hip-hop community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cWhy would she lie?\u201d the Los Angeles County DA said. \u201cShe She’s been subjected to a stream of hate. For what? For she coming forward as a victim of domestic violence? \u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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In his own closing, Lanez’s defense attorney George Mgdesyan gave jurors what he called a perfectly good reason for Megan to lie: Being victimized by Lanez was a better public story than the embarrassing, potentially career-damaging truth that she was shot by her best friend \u2014 not Lanez \u2014in a jealous dispute over him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cMegan Pete is a liar. She lied about everything in this case from the beginning,\u201d Mgdesyan said. \u201cShe lied under oath here.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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He said that Lanez actually struggled with Megan’s former friend Kelsey Harris to stop her from shooting, and that a pause heard on an audio recording amid the five shots fired on the night of July 12, 2020 was evidence of that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cHe was trying to protect her,\u201d Mgdesyan said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n