Tory Lanez pushed back against the “vulnerable victim” designation in his appeal of the 10-year sentence he received for shooting Megan The Stallion, claiming she had enough time to get away before the shooting took place.
In the appeal, Lanez pointed to statements Megan’s former friend Kelsey Harris gave to prosecutors, where she said she saw Lanez reaching toward the center console of the SUV after he allegedly threatened to shoot Megan.
Lanez argued that Megan should have realized “there were indeed signs that an armed individual may be in the vehicle,” and therefore “had the ability to run or duck once she saw a gun being pointed at her.”
Under California law, a victim being “particularly vulnerable” can be used as an aggravating factor when determining charges or sentencing.
On Nov. 12, the California Courts of Appeal upheld Lanez’s felony convictions and his 10-year prison sentence. Lanez had argued that mistakes were made during the trial for the 2020 shooting and that the 10-year sentence was excessive.
A panel of Los Angeles judges dismissed those claims, stating that Lanez was not the victim of any miscarriage of justice.
The failed appeal comes just as Lanez was ordered to answer questions connected to Megan’s defamation lawsuit against blogger Milagro Gramz following two unsuccessful deposition attempts.
On Oct. 30, a judge rejected Lanez’s attorney’s argument that giving deposition testimony could harm his criminal appeal.
“The focus of Mr. Peterson’s deposition is his relationship with defendant Cooper, not with plaintiff,” the judge wrote in a court order. “Thus, the court does not see how testimony regarding Mr. Peterson’s communications and relationship with the defendant would serve to prejudice his criminal appeal.”
The judge ruled that Lanez must sit for the deposition, noting that he can invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination “on a question-by-question basis,” with the judge supervising the process.
Megan’s attorneys have already tried twice to depose Lanez but say the attempts didn’t meet court standards. In April, they wrote in a motion that Lanez “feigned ignorance regarding the definition of basic words” and “pretended that the video equipment was not working despite prison staff confirming it was functioning properly.”
