Judge sets August 7 sentencing date for rapper Tory Lanez in shooting of Megan Thee Stallion
Lanez's asked for more time to prepare their recommendation over the objection of prosecutors, who want Lanez sentenced to 13 years in prison.
A judge on Tuesday scheduled an August 7 sentencing for Tory Lanez in the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion.
It’s the fourth time the rapper’s sentencing has been delayed. His lawyers asked for more time to prepare as they were trying to get Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Herriford disqualified from the case over the way he handled their motion for new trial. Herriford rejected two disqualification requests during the hearing, then the appellate court rejected a petition to remove him.
Deputy District Attorneys Alex Bott and Kathy Ta are asking Herriford to sentence Lanez to 13 years in prison.
They objected to the delay, but Herriford said Tuesday he believes the defense needs more time to prepare. He recommended Lanez’s lawyers Matthew Barhoma and Jose Baez address the aggravating factors of great bodily harm and use of a firearm, which prosecutors want Herriford to factor into Lanez’s sentence.
Before sentencing, the judge will conduct a trial to determine if he’ll apply the aggravators.
Lanez appeared in court wearing orange jail garb, a white long-sleeved shirt, white shoes and a black cap. He wore a white cross around his neck and answered, “Yes, Your Honor,” when Herriford asked if he agreed to the delay.
Bott told reporters outside the courthouse that Aug. 7 is “the earliest date that accommodates all the trials.” Baez, the prominent Miami, Florida-based criminal defense attorney, is in trial on another case, Bott said, and other scheduling issues arose.
He said he doesn’t know if Megan will speak in person at the hearing, but he expects she’ll “give a statement in some form.”
“We’re still working out the details there,” Bott said. He added, “We look forward to having this matter adjudicated on the 7th.”
“I know Megan’s really wanting to see this thing, this chapter closed in her life,” Bott said.
Asked if he had a message for Megan, Bott said, “We just appreciate her being as strong as she is, and this is going to be over very soon.”
Bott said prosecutors’ 13-year recommendation is a “mid-term recommendation.”
“We think that considering the factors in aggravation, factors in mitigation, that this is the appropriate sentence based on his conduct. We’ve had lengthy discussions about it. So that’s how we got to the 13. We think mid-term is appropriate in this case,” Bott said.
He said he “looks forward” to the defense’s sentencing recommendation, which is due Aug. 1. The delay is “a little frustrating but not totally unexpected.”
“In a case like this, all the parties want to make sure they’re doing everything they can in terms of having experts look at this and fully brief the matter,” Bott said.
“I think anyone who’s a victim like Megan is wants this put in their rear-view mirror as quickly as possible,” Bott continued. “I just want to get this done as quickly as possible and make sure that Megan gets the justice that she deserves.”
Bott’s and Ta’s 12-page recommendation cites Lanez’s “campaign of misinformation” aimed at humiliating and re-traumatizing Megan when arguing he shouldn’t receive probation because he can’t be supervised.
They cite his three violations of court orders before trial, including coming within 100 yards of Megan at the Rolling Loud Festival in Miami in July 2021 and his brief jailing for posting the police DNA report online along with derogatory comments about Megan.
They cite his “unprovoked attack” on singer August Alsina in September 2022 and his recent false claims that prosecutors falsified and suppressed evidence.
They also cite his “full-length album with several songs about the shooting” as an example of him “profiting from his crimes” while arguing his jail call to Megan’s former friend Kelsey Harris “tantamount to a confession.”
Lanez was arrested on a gun charge shortly after the July 12, 2020, shooting, which occurred on a residential street in the Hollywood Hills about 4:25 a.m. as he, Megan and Harris were leaving reality star Kylie Jenner’s home. At the time, the rappers were “friends with each other, sharing a brief intimate relationship,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing recommendation.
He wasn’t initially charged with the shooting because Megan told first responders she’d only stepped on glass, despite requiring surgery to remove bullet fragments in her feet. Some still remain, and Megan testified she still has pain in her feet. In addition to the three felonies, jurors concluded Lanez caused Megan great bodily harm when he shot her. They also found true that he’d used a firearm.
In their opposition to Lanez’s motion for new trial, prosecutors said the evidence against him was “overwhelming,” It included a record phone call he made to Harris from jail in which he repeatedly apologized for “that shit,” asks how Megan is and what hospital she’s in and repeatedly says he was highly intoxicated and “never would have done that shit” if he hadn’t been.
“I don’t even remember what we was even arguing about,” Lanez said.
Hired after Lanez was convicted, Baez and Barhoma accused Lanez’s previous counsel, Shawn Holley and George Mgdesyan, of ineffective assistance of counsel when arguing his jury convictions should be vacated and he receive a new trial. Herriford rejected all their arguments but said even if some were valid, they didn’t warrant a new trial because the outcome wouldn’t change, meaning Lanez would only be convicted again.
Barhoma attended Tuesday’s hearing in person while Baez appeared remotely.
Stay tuned for some major articles on this case from me: I am getting a bunch of documents today related to Lanez’s motion for new trial. It’s going to be major. Subscribe to support my work!
Find all my coverage over Tory Lanez’s case here.
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