UPDATED 1/16 4:20 p.m. ET: After Tory Lanez hired former Suge Knight attorney David Kenner, the incarcerated rapper has also hired the attorney who won Casey Anthony’s case.
Per TMZ, sources close to the rapper’s legal team said that he’s hired Jose Baez to represent him during potential appeal against the verdict in the Megan Thee Stallion trial. Not only did Baez represent Anthony in the death of her daughter Caylee, whom she was accused of killing, but he also represented Aaron Hernandez in the murder of Odin Lloyd.
Lanez’s sentencing is currently set for Feb. 28 following a delay request from his legal team.
UPDATED 1/10, 7:05 p.m. ET:Lanez’s sentencing has been pushed back a month “as his new lawyers prepare to ask the judge to grant him a new trial,” per reporter Meghann Cuniff, who continues to closely cover the case.
In her thread elaborating on Lanez’s brief appearance in court on Tuesday, Cuniff added that another delay could be forthcoming. She also quoted new attorney Kenner saying “I look forward to litigating the motion for new trial” and “we are very confident.”
See original story below.
Tory Lanez parted ways with the legal counsel that represented him in the trial over his shooting of Megan Thee Stallion. He has now hired one of Suge Knight’s former attorneys.
Per legal reporter Meghann Cuniff, Lanez is expected in court on Tuesday and his attorney is listed as David Kenner, who famously represented Suge Knight and Snoop Dogg.
“Kenner is a longtime criminal defense attorney whose clients include former Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight,” Cuniff tweeted. “Anyone with actual experience in criminal law (not all lawyers) will tell you he’s joining the case a bit late: Before trial would have been better.”
Cuniff stressed, however, that Kenner represented Suge on a robbery case in the ’90s and got him probation. Some online incorrectly assumed Kenner represented Suge on the case that got him 28 years in prison, in which he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Rolling Stone senior reporter Nancy Dillon shared that Lanez parted ways with his former attorney George Mgdesyan on good terms.
“I don’t do appeals,” said Mgdesyan. “So we had to get somebody on board to handle the appeal.”
Lanez has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Jan. 27, and Mgdesyan said he plans to attend if possible. “As a party who represented Tory and is friends with Tory, I have an interest,” he added.
Lanez was found guilty last month on three charges, which included assault with a semiautomatic firearm, having a concealed and loaded firearm in a vehicle, and discharge of a firearm with gross negligence. The 30-year-old rapper, real name Daystar Peterson, had been accused of shooting Megan Thee Stallion’s feet ever since the July 2020 incident transpired.
