During the ninth day of the trial, jurors still have many questions about the July 2020 incident despite deliberating for three hours so they will continue the deliberations on December 23.
- Dec 23, 2022
AceShowbiz - Megan Thee Stallion's boyfriend Pardison Fontaine is showing support to those who are facing injustice, especially black women. Pardi's message came amid deliberations in the trial against Tory Lanez, who allegedly shot Megan in her feet.
"To any woman especially ones of color that has suffered an injustice, I feel for you," Pardi began writing via Instagram Story on Thursday, December 22. "When you do find the courage to speak up .. it seems you will be ridiculed .. your credibility will questioned .. your entire past will be held under a magnifying glass."
Pardi continued, "In an instant you can go from victim to defendant in the eyes of the public." The "Backin' It Up" rapper went on saying, "To any one with a daughter Sister mother niece or aunt .. I pray for their protection .. I pray for their covering," before wrapping up his post, "I wouldn't wish this on anyone."
A few hours earlier, jurors began deliberations at the trial of Tory, born Daystar Peterson. During the ninth day of the trial, prosecutor Kathy Ta said in her closing argument that Tory opened fire with a semiautomatic pistol, hit Megan in both feet and then started "manipulating" her into silence.
"[Tory's defense lawyer, George Mgdesyan] said this case was about sexual relationships. That's not true. This case has always been about the shooting," Kathy argued. "Why did the defense do this? He wants to play on age-old prejudices and biases. But you are all better than that."
Kathy further stressed that the case "is not about anyone's sex life" and urged jurors to look at the evidence and sworn testimony. She added it was Tory's "bruised ego" that led to the shooting. "[Megan] disrespected his rapping. She's insulting him as a rapper, and that pissed him off. He had a massive ego and he could not handle being disrespected. And how dare she have the audacity to walk away from him. So he reasserted his dominance. He was going to show her."
Kathy said Megan became complicit in a coverup at the outset of the investigation because Tory was "manipulating" her and Kelsey Nicole Harris, Megan's former best friend who was also present at the shooting.
According to Tory's legal team, Kelsey was the one who shot Megan in July 2020 after Tory revealed he had been sleeping with both women. Tory allegedly made the statement during a drunken dispute inside his Cadillac Escalade following a pool party at Kylie Jenner's house.
"The entire defense theory is that the reason Megan lied is because it was more convenient from a PR perspective to say Tory was the shooter instead of Kelsey. Make that make sense," Kathy challenged the jury, saying Megan's decision to finally step forward and name her assailant was incredibly difficult for her in the male-dominated rap music industry.
Kathy then highlighted the three text messages that Kelsey sent to Megan's off-site bodyguard Justin Edison within five minutes of the shooting. She scoffed at the defense claim that Kelsey sent the texts, which read "Help. Tory shot meg. 911," to cover her tracks in a sophisticated plot backed up by Megan.
Kathy later urged jurors to take a close look at the transcript of witness Sean Kelly's testimony because she reviewed it carefully and determined Sean got much more specific when talking about Tory.
"He was holding something, and it flashed and made a loud noise like a gun," so Sean testified, according to a transcript Kathy put up on a screen. "You will never hear Sean Kelly say he ever saw Kelsey holding an object," Kathy argued, "He said it twice about the defendant." Later, jurors requested a full read-back of Sean's full testimony, apparently heeding Kathy's request.
In his own closing statement, Tory's lawyer George insisted that the one who shot Megan was her ex-BFF Kelsey, noting that Kelsey cried in the video of her arrest because she "realized what she did." George said, "She's the one who shot her friend. She's upset, she's crying because she realized what she did. That's why she's crying."
In response, Kathy blasted, "Let's say she's the shooter, at no point does he say, 'Kelsey, what the hell happened? What were you doing?' And this is allegedly someone looking out for Meg. At no point in that call does he suggest Kelsey did anything. He's the only one apologizing."
Jurors left the courthouse at 4 P.M. after deliberating for three hours. Clearly, they still have more questions as they will continue deliberating on Friday, December 23 morning. There's still no official verdict.
