According to everyone’s favorite legal report Meghann Cuniff, aka Meghann Thee Reporter, Tory Lanez, born Daystar Peterson, has filed a 45-page habeas petition requesting his 10-year prison sentence be revoked. In this request to be re-sentenced, Cuniff reports that a statement from Lanez’s former bodyguard and driver, who did not testify during the December 2022 trial in Los Angeles, was cited for consideration, in addition to his childhood trauma, with additional notes of a possible deportation being discriminatory.
Cuniff reports that Lanez’s current lawyers are asking an appellate court to vacate his 10-year prison sentence in the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion, born Megan Pete. Earlier this week, paperwork began circulating online, said to be a sworn statement filed by Lanez’s former bodyguard and driver Jauquan Smith.
Although Smith did not testify during the trial, the statement claimed Lanez was trying to take the gun from Megan’s then-friend Kelsey Harris before the shots let out. Per the 15-paragraph statement that Smith signed and dated December 5, he said, “Mr. Peterson and Ms. Harris began struggling as Mr. Peterson tried to unarm Ms. Harris. I was still pulling Ms. Pete and did not see who shot the weapon.”
In addition to Smith’s statement wanting to be considered in his 10-year sentence vacation request, Cuniff reports that Lanez and his lawyers have also urged the appellate court to consider the rapper’s “childhood trauma,” as the sentencing judge considered.
According to Assembly Bill 124, which was passed in 2021, the court is to offer the lowest prison sentence possible “if a person has experienced psychological, physical, or childhood trauma, including, but not limited to, abuse, neglect, exploitation, or sexual violence.”
However, the presiding judge can still sentence a person to a higher term if the official believes the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances. This is what Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Herriford, the sentencing official, did in Lanez’s case after his legal team made note of his post-traumatic stress disorder following the death of his mother at age 11.
The petition read, “Arguably, this path ultimately led Petitioner to the incident at hand, and should be considered when analyzing the possible culpability of his actions. Due to Petitioner’s childhood history growing up without his mother in Canada, he connected with Pete, and they continued to consume alcohol as a way to cope with their trauma. They were both, along with Harris, in an intoxicated state the night of the incident in question, which led to poor decision-making, and created this volatile, solitary, incident.”
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Lanez’s legal team has also argued that his status as a non-United States citizen facing deportation should not have been nor should continue to be considered in his sentencing, being that it discriminates against his Canadian origins.
The petition cites Assembly Bill 256, which was passed in 2023 and changed the California Racial Justice Act (RJA), allowing for post-sentencing proceedings to consider discrimination a defendant faced based on race or national origin.
Lanez’s legal team argues that AB256 applies to him due to his Canadian citizenship. They write, “In Petitioner’s underlying trial, it was found that one of the reasons to deny him bail pending appeal, was that he was an immigrant, and facing possible immigration issues. It is just such considerations, which the RJA was enacted to prevent.”
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