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A California appellate court has officially denied Tory Lanez’s latest petition to introduce what he claimed was new evidence in the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion. The ruling is another blow to the Canadian rapper’s ongoing legal battle to overturn his conviction, which stems from the high-profile incident that shocked the music industry and dominated headlines for years.
Lanez’s legal team had filed a habeas corpus petition seeking to present evidence they argued could cast doubt on the jury’s verdict. Among their claims was that the firearm used in the shooting had been misplaced and was no longer available for further examination. However, the court dismissed that assertion, noting that law enforcement confirmed the weapon, its magazine and all related bullet fragments remain securely in police custody.
The judges also addressed Lanez’s request for additional DNA testing, particularly on bullet fragments removed from Megan’s feet. They found such testing would be unlikely to yield useful results, given the nature of the evidence, and criticized the defense for failing to pursue this avenue during the original trial. The court labeled the petition “piecemeal,” meaning it attempted to introduce elements of an appeal separately rather than as a unified, timely legal argument.
This latest decision follows other failed attempts by Lanez’s defense to challenge his conviction. Earlier filings included an affidavit from his former driver, claiming that Megan’s friend Kelsey Harris was the person holding the gun, not Lanez. Prosecutors and the court rejected that testimony as insufficient and inconsistent with other compelling trial evidence, which included eyewitness accounts, forensic findings, and Megan’s own detailed testimony.
Lanez was convicted in December 2022 on three felony counts, including assault with a semiautomatic firearm, and was sentenced to a multi-year prison term. Despite his repeated appeals, the courts have so far upheld the verdict, signaling that the legal battle may be nearing its end. For now, the ruling reinforces the finality of the trial’s outcome and leaves Lanez facing the reality of serving out his sentence without the prospect of a retrial based on the arguments he has put forward so far.
