Just a few days ago we reported that Tory Lanez, real name Daystar Peterson, had filed an appeal in his Megan Thee Stallion, real name Megan Pete, shooting trial. After prosecutors entered into evidence his AK-47 tattoo, Tory is now arguing he got it as tribute to his idol Tupac Shakur.
UPDATE: Tory Lanez Legal Team Argues His AK-47 Tattoo, Shown In Megan Thee Stallion Trial, Was Inked As Tribute To Idol Tupac Shakur
While trying to overturn his conviction, the 30-year-old Toronto singer/rapper and his legal team argued that the prosecutors in the case tried to set him up with “irrelevant” evidence — including his AK-47 tattoo on his chest.
In our original reporting, we shared that court documents showed Tory’s lawyer, Jose Baez, claiming that prosecutors intentionally submitted a shirtless photo of his client with a tattoo of a firearm on his chest.
During the trial, prosecutors claimed that they entered the photo into evidence strictly for identification purposes. However, Attorney Baez believes the prosecutors instead submitted the photo to persuade the jury into believing that his client had a penchant for weapons.
Attorney Baez claimed the photo of his client’s gun tattoo was just a lay-up for prosecutors to next present the jury with rap lyrics from his client, to try and solidify their argument for Tory’s alleged penchant for guns.
Since the initial news broke, legal affairs reporter Meghann Cuniff, who’s been covering the entire trial between Tory Lanez and Megan Thee Stallion, has updated that since Tory and his team filed their new trial motion, she’s received details about his gun tattoo argument.
In a blog post, Cuniff says that Tory’s team argued in the 84-page filing that Tory’s tattoo is a “homage to his idol Tupac Shakur.” They add, “Mr. Shakur used his music and tattoos to discuss socio-political issues affecting the black community in the nineties. Yet, he, too, was misunderstood.”
We also learned that New York rapper Dave East has a similar tattoo.
In addition to the tattoo argument, Tory’s legal team argues in their motion that the prosecutors were mistakenly allowed to play an 80-minute pre-trial interview with Megan’s ex-best friend Kelsey Harris, who was present during the 2020 shooting.
The motion also claims the prosecutors interfered with Tory’s right to counsel, plus more.
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