Tory Lanez confirms he will NOT testify in Megan Thee Stallion shooting trial amid allegations he offered the rapper $1million not to report incident as closing arguments are set to start today

• Tory Lanez on Wednesday said he will not be taking the stand in his trial in LA 
• The Canadian singer, 30, has pleaded not guilty to three felony charges of assaulting rapper Megan Thee Stallion with a firearm, among other offenses 
• Judge David Herriford issued instructions to the jury and closing statements from the prosecution and defense start this afternoon

Tory Lanez will not testify in his own defense, the singer told the court on day eight of his trial for allegedly shooting ex-lover and fellow hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in July 2020. 

Judge David Herriford on Wednesday reminded Lanez that he had a right to testify, but the 30-year-old said he has decided not to take the stand after consulting with his attorney. 

Lanez appeared at the criminal court in downtown Los Angeles dressed in a blue-green jacket, black pants and a black turtleneck sweater. 

Tory Lanez (pictured arriving at criminal court in Downtown LA on Monday) confirmed he will not testify in his own defense, on day eight of his trial on Wednesday. He is charged with shooting fellow hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion during an incident in July 2020 

Megan Thee Stallion shared photos of the injuries she sustained on her foot after Tory Lanez allegedly shot her

He has pleaded not guilty to three felony charges of assaulting Megan with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a concealed gun in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.

The Canadian musician – whose real name is Daystar Peterson – could spend up to 18 years in prison if convicted of all three felonies, plus possible deportation from the United States.

In her testimony last week, Megan, 27, told the jury of seven women and five men that she and Lanez had attended a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills home on July 12, 2020. 

She said the two were in his SUV with Megan’s assistant and best friend, Kelsey Harris, when an argument erupted and she asked the driver to pull over. 

Megan, whose real name is Megan Pete, said when she got out of the car Lanez allegedly shouted, ‘Dance b***h’, and fired several shots at her, injuring her feet so seriously that she needed surgery.

The defense has been pushing the theory that it wasn’t Lanez but Megan’s assistant and friend Kelsey Harris (pictured arriving at court on December 15) who fired the gun in a fit of jealousy and anger at Megan

In her testimony last week, Megan, 27, told the jury of seven women and five men that she and Lanez were leaving a pool party July 12, 2020 at the home of Kylie Jenner when an argument erupted. The two women are pictured together during an Instagram Live the night of the shooting

She also testified that Lanez offered her and Harris $1million to keep quiet about the shooting. 

Jenner, 25, who was named as a potential witness for the defense, is no longer expected to testify in the case. 

Lanez – who is free on $350,000 bail – later apologized to her, saying he was drunk at the time of the shooting.

Meanwhile, his defense team has been pushing the theory that it wasn’t Lanez but Harris who fired the gun in a fit of jealousy and anger at Megan when she found out the rapper had ‘backstabbed’ her by sleeping with Lanez, whom Kelsey had a crush on.

On Tuesday, eyewitness Sean Kelly gave startling new testimony, telling the jury that he saw Lanez, Megan’s assistant Kelsey Harris and Lanez driver ‘all beat’ Megan, punching and kicking her as she lay on the ground wounded from gunshots. 

 ‘It appeared to me that they were trying to kill her,’ said Kelly, whose home in the Hollywood Hills, overlooks the spot where the shooting happened in July 2020.

He told the court that Lanez was screaming ‘a torrent of abuse’ at Megan, ‘He was going crazy. He was really agitated,’ he added.

Kelly’s hour on the stand as a defense witness was often contradictory, depending on whether it was the prosecution or defense asking the questions. 

His testimony ranged from ‘He (Lanez) was firing everywhere, four or five times,’ to ‘I believe the girl (Kelsey Harris) fired the first shot.’  

Kelly told the jury Tuesday that he was woken up at about 4:30am by the sound of shouting and loud voices in the driveway outside his home.

Video footage showed the moments after the July 12, 2020 shooting, with Lanez and Thee Stallion, and a third person lying on the ground as authorities arrive

Megan had initially denied ever being in a romantic relationship with Lanez. The rapper – real name Daystar Peterson -–could spend up to 12 years in prison if convicted. The two are pictured in 2020

He got up to investigate, going out on the balcony of his second-floor bedroom and two girls fighting outside a car.

‘They were pulling hair and hitting each other. It was quite violent,’ he said.

The ‘taller guy’ (Lanez’s driver) got out of the car and walked around to the girls to try to separate them, Kelly told the court.

‘Then I heard what I though was fireworks…..I saw a muzzle flash about the same time the smaller gentleman (Lanez who is 5ft 3in) got out off the car.’

He said the first muzzle flash was ‘near the girls’ but when defense attorney George Mgdesyan asked him: ‘Who had the gun?’ Kelly said: ‘I never saw a gun. I just saw flashes.’

‘Where did you see the flashes come from?’ asked the lawyer. ‘The girl (Harris),’ said Kelly.

Judge David Herriford issued instructions to the jury on Wednesday before closing arguments were due to begin

‘Did you at any point hear anyone say, ‘Dance b***h’? Kelly was asked, answering ‘No.’

Mgdesyan asked Kelly several times, ‘after you saw the female shoot, did you see the smaller man appear to try to take the gun from her.’

Kelly kept pointing out that everything was happening very fast, and in a sarcastic answer that caused titters in the packed courtroom, he said: ‘It’s not like he went, ‘Excuse me, can I have the gun, it’s my turn.”

Pressed by Mgdesyan, he added that he believed the girl (Harris) ‘fired the first shot….Then I believe he (Lanez) started shooting.’

After the shooting, Kelly said, he saw Megan ‘crawling and stumbling’ into the nearby driveway and ‘the three of them (Lanez, Harris and Lanez’s driver) were beating her.

‘She was curled up on the ground in a fetal position. They were all beating her, punching and kicking her…. It appeared to me that they were trying to kill her.’

When Lanez’s driver said that the police were on the way, he went on, ‘They picked her up and looked like they were going to thrown her in the (nearby creek).

‘They dragged her across the street, put her in the car and took off.’

Under cross examination by Deputy District Attorney Alex Bott, Kelly said: ‘I saw the muzzle flash when the smaller gentleman (Lanez) got out of the car.

‘He was firing everywhere – four or five shots.

‘The short guy came out of the car and then shot the girl. She was kicking all the time. She fell into the middle of the road.’

Kelly told Bott that after she was shot, she ‘crawled away and rolled into a ball. And Lanez was screaming a ‘torrent of abuse at her, including words like ‘mother****er, and n****r.

‘He was going crazy. He was really agitated,’ he added.

Judge Herriford issued instructions to the jury Wednesday morning and the closing statements of prosecution and defense teams were scheduled to start in the afternoon.

Source: Read Full Article