Prosecutors in the Tory Lanez trial want the rapper to be sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion, a sentencing memorandum filed this week says.
The memorandum is a recommendation by prosecutors to Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Herriford ahead of Lanez’s sentencing on June 13.
The memo mentions Lanez’s behavior before and during the trial, including his breaches of the protective and gag orders placed on him during the trial, including his leaking the GSR DNA report to Akademiks, which landed him in jail for his comments about Megan Thee Stallion and his attack on August Alsina caught on camera as he awaited trial.
Prosecutors also said Lanez not only used a gun to injure Megan, but he also used his “pen” to humiliate and traumatize her over the last three years leading up to the trial via his album and many posts across his online platforms where loyal followers also joined in to bash and “re-traumatize” the victim.
“The defendant admitted guilt. As such, his lack of remorse can be appropriately considered by this Court as an aggravating factor,” the memo read as it addressed the evidence of the jail phone call where Lanez told Harris to tell Megan he was sorry. Prosecutors say that call, along with texts and other evidence, proved that he shot Megan Thee Stallion and was apologetic about it.
Kelsey Harris, who was an inconsistent witness, was also mentioned in the memo as prosecutors pointed out that Lanez attacked and beat her on the day of the shooting after she confronted him.
“Ms Harris confronted the defendant for shooting the victim, which caused the defendant to physically assault Ms. Harris. He grabbed her by the throat and pulled her by the hair before claiming down again. Ms Harris sustained injuries because of the defendant’s attack,” the memo said.Prosecutors ended the memorandum by asking the judge to consider sentencing him to 13 years in jail with no probation since his actions after the shooting and trial show he lacks remorse which they say is “insidious” and not enough to prove to the court that he will not commit the same offense in the future.
Since the trial, Lanez had accused Deputy District Attorneys Kathy Ta and Alex Bott of prosecutorial misconduct, and his new lawyers have also filed a motion to disqualify the trial judge, David Herriford, after he denied their motion for a new trial.
However, even though they are asking for the sentence to be 13 years, some of the charges will likely be concurrent, and Lanez will serve a shorter sentence if Judge Herriford agrees with the prosecution.
The recommended sentence is as follows – six (6) years for first-degree assault with a semiautomatic firearm, four (4) years for having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and three (3) years for discharging a firearm with gross negligence. The first two sentences are likely to run concurrently.
The defense has not filed a memo for sentencing and instead has filed a stay of proceedings in hopes to have the judge disqualified, and they have also filed for an extension to file the memo, no doubt to delay Lanez’s sentence and inevitable fate.
Tory Lanez’s lawyers have made good on a promise to pursue a motion to get the trial judge in his case disqualified.
The rapper’s new attorneys, Jose Baez and Matthew Barhoma, have filed a writ petition against the Los Angeles County Court ahead of Lanez’s sentencing later this month.
The Writ was filed on May 19th and wants the California Court of Appeal to disqualify Judge Herriford for abusing his discretion when he disqualified Lanez’s motion for an appeal.
The rapper was convicted in December on three felony charges for the shooting of rapper Megan The Stallion, and last month, his lawyers attempted to apply for a new trial citing prosecutorial misconduct and claiming that Tory Lanez received improper counsel.
However, the judge found that the rapper received a fair trial contrary to his attorney’s claims and rejected the appeal motion. The lawyers then told the judge that they would file a motion to disqualify him, and Judge Herriford encouraged them to pursue the procedure if they were dissatisfied with the ruling.
The attorneys, Baez and Barhoma, in the Writ, say that Justice Herriford should be disqualified because his denial of the motion to disqualify was “improper” because he had shown partiality in three ways.
These include one where he did not allow the defense to present its case in another order that was dissimilar from the initial trial by not allowing them to introduce new evidence at that motion hearing, and two, that he had made adverse rulings against Lanez that were “contrary to Petitioner’s constitutional right to present evidence in a show cause setting for a Motion for New Trial that is necessary for his defense.
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That specific reference is from Baez seeking to introduce expert testimony on the DNA evidence report of the gun, which the judge denied on the basis that it would be a new trial that could not be procedurally allowed.
“The judge denied Petitioner the opportunity to present any evidence in the form of witness testimony even though trial court solicited for offers of proof for the very reason of presenting such evidence,” the Writ said.
The third reason stated by the Writ was that the judge allegedly “repeatedly interrupted and cut off Petitioner’s attorneys during oral argument,” adding that the State was allowed to present their case uninterrupted.
Although Judge Herriford had given his judgment orally when he rejected the motion to disqualify, the judge, who has been at the bar since 1982, having graduated from Stanford University, and has been a judge for over 12 years, did provide written reasons for his decision last month and denied being biased.
“I am not prejudiced or biased against or in favor of any party to this proceeding or their counsel,” the judge wrote. “All rulings made by me in this action have been based upon facts and arguments officially presented to me and upon my understanding of the law. … All statements made by me and all actions taken by me in this proceeding have been done in furtherance of what I believe were my judicial duties,” the judge wrote.
No response or Stay of Proceedings has been ordered by the court, and Lanez’s sentencing is on June 13 by none other than Judge Herriford.
The rapper is facing a minimum of 20 years in prison based on California minimum sentencing guidelines.
He is presently in remand awaiting sentencing.