The Source |California Supreme Court Declines to Revisit Tory Lanez Conviction

The California Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from rapper Tory Lanez, leaving his 10 year prison sentence in place for the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion.

The decision allows a prior ruling from the state’s 2nd District Court of Appeal to stand. That court upheld Lanez’s convictions on three felony charges tied to the incident. In December 2022, a Los Angeles jury found Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, guilty of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. He was formally sentenced in August 2023.

In a detailed opinion spanning 46 pages, appellate justices dismissed claims from the defense that trial errors affected the outcome. The panel wrote that the evidence presented was “more than sufficient” to support the jury’s determination that Peterson personally caused significant injury to Megan Pete.

During the trial, Megan testified that Lanez shot her in the feet on July 12, 2020, after an argument following a gathering at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills residence. She told jurors she had “no doubt” he fired the weapon and said he later offered her $1 million to stay quiet. Megan also recounted that he shouted, “dance, bitch,” before opening fire.

Under questioning from defense attorneys, she explained why she did not immediately identify him, saying she “didn’t want to be a snitch.” She later chose to “defend my name” after public commentary cast doubt on her account.