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Tory Lanez is claiming that the gun allegedly used to shoot Megan Thee Stallion is “missing,” but California prosecutors consider the accusation to be “demonstrably false” and “troubling.”
In a brief filed on Monday (Nov. 18) in a California appeals court, the state attorney general’s office responded to the allegation based on a petition filed last month by Lanez’s legal team in an attempt to overturn his felony convictions. His lawyers argued that the vital piece of evidence has not been available for their defense, violating his right to due process.
Prosecutors wrote in Monday’s brief, “Without providing any documentary evidence or a declaration from either habeas counsel or a custodian of evidence for the Los Angeles Police Department, petitioner simply asserts that the firearm and bullet fragments have not been preserved. Petitioner’s failure … is especially troubling in this case because the factual assertions are demonstrably false.”
Their filing included a sworn declaration by a LAPD officer confirming the department “still has custody of the firearm and the firearm’s magazine, as well as the casings and fragments.”
Prosecutors also noted that the evidence wasn’t available for re-testing, but even if it were, it wouldn’t lead to overturning Lanez’s conviction. “The prosecution did not even rely on the DNA results in arguing petitioner’s guilt,” the state wrote. “Under these circumstances, it is inconceivable that DNA testing could undermine the entire prosecution case and point unerringly to innocence or reduced culpability, as is required to establish a claim of actual innocence.”
Lanez (born Daystar Peterson) was convicted in December 2022 on three felony counts after shooting Megan Thee Stallion (born Megan Pete) in the foot following an argument in July 2020. According to prosecutors, Megan got out of the vehicle and began walking away, but Lanez shouted “Dance, b***h!” and fired a gun at her feet. In August 2023, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Since then, he’s filed appeals and two habeas corpus petitions to challenge the conviction.
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English (US) ·