Tory Lanez declines to testify in Megan Thee Stallion shooting trial
Tory Lanez declined to testify in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting trial on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old, real name Daystar Peterson, faces charges including assault with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence for allegedly shooting Megan in both feet in July 2020.
At the Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, Lanez was asked by Judge David V. Herriford if he would be taking to the witness stand as part of his own defence and he declared, "I will not testify."
His driver, Jaquan Smith, who was present the night of the shooting, was expected to testify but he also opted not to do so on Wednesday.
Lanez's attorney George Mgdesyan told Billboard that he had wanted Smith to testify, but procedural issues and the potential for delays pushing the trial back until after Christmas stopped him from doing so.
The musician stands accused of yelling "Dance, b**ch!" and shooting the Hot Girl Summer star in the feet multiple times after she left the vehicle they were travelling in following an argument.
Megan and her former best friend Kelsey Harris, who was also in the car, testified for the prosecution earlier in the trial.
The defence rested its case on Wednesday and closing arguments began, with Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott reminding the jurors of the rapper's emotional testimony.
"It was hard for Megan to testify at trial," he said, reports Billboard. "This is what she said: 'I'm having a really difficult time sitting up here and comfortably tell my story - because not only do I have to sit next to a group of people who have been continuously spreading misinformation, making me look like a bad person, I have to sit across from Tory and it's really hard and I like to present like I'm strong, but I'm really trying. I don't like to look weak.'"
Mgdesyan then presented the defence's closing argument and again pushed the suggestion that Harris, not Lanez, was the shooter.
His closing argument will wrap up on Thursday and then the jury will begin their deliberations.
