Previously, it's reported that the Canadian rapper fired George Mdgesyan, who allegedly botched the emcee's defense, and replaced him with Suge Knight's former lawyer David Kenner.
- Jan 10, 2023
AceShowbiz - Tory Lanez's ex-defense lawyer has finally broken his silence after it's reported that the Canadian rapper, who was found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in July 2020, switched up his legal team and got rid of one of his lawyers, George Mgdesyan. In a statement, George clarified that he's leaving on good terms.
On Monday, January 9, Rolling Stone senior reporter Nancy Dillon received a statement from George. In it, the lawyer refuted claims that he's exiting the "Say It" rapper's legal team on bad terms. "I don't do appeals, so we had to get somebody on board to handle the appeal," said the attorney.
Additionally, George said he "may still attend" Tory's sentencing hearing on January 27, "if possible." He shared, "As a party who represented Tory and is friends with Tory, I have an interest."
Despite the sentencing hearing being set for late January, the rapper has a court date on Tuesday, January 10. According to Nancy, the court hearing tomorrow will be for "substitution for attorney."
Tory replaced George with Suge Knight's former attorney David Kenner. David is the third lawyer that Tory has hired since his charges were laid in 2020, having started with Shawn Holley and worked with George, who allegedly botched the emcee's defense.
Tory's new attorney, David, has represented Suge in his January 2015 hit-and-run case. However, David was fired in 2015. The former head of Death Row Records went on to change attorneys three more times, and in 2018, he agreed to serve 28 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter for running over a man, Terry Carter. The Death Row Records co-founders had initially said that Suge was acting in self-defense when he drove and clipped a man, causing him to die.
Tory was convicted of shooting Megan on December 23, following eight days of trial, nearly two days of closing arguments and a day of deliberations. A grand jury found Tory, who pleaded not guilty to all counts, guilty of all three charges levied against him. The three counts include felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm, possession of a concealed, unregistered firearm and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
In response to the guilty verdict, Tory's legal team said that they're planning to appeal the verdict. His fans have also established several petitions to appeal his conviction in connection to the shooting. The petition with the most signatures, launched on the same day that Tory was taken into custody, now has over 50,00 signatures with a goal to reach 75,000.
