Thread by @meghanncuniff

Good morning from Los Angeles, where Tory Lanez is to be sentenced for shooting Megan Thee Stallion. Prosecutors are asking for 13 years and citing Lanez’s lack of remorse, while Lanez is asking for probation and proclaiming his innocence. Stay tuned for updates from court.

I’ve got all the sentencing papers linked in this article, along with the basics about the case and what’s been going on since Lanez was convicted on Dec. 23. Subscribe to get an article about the sentencing in your email after it’s over. bit.ly/3OJtWQE

My Sunday piece looks at the history of the false DNA evidence claims in Lanez’s case, from DJ @Akademiks to Casey Anthony’s defense expert. bit.ly/45dMSMM

There's so much BS spewed about this case it's hard to know where to start, but here's the dumbest thing I've found: The claim that a doctor who treated Megan has ties to @RocNation.

Um, WTF? What made-up dots did the idiots feebly connect to try to justify telling that lie? ...

It turns out the doctor's father died in Ohio a few years ago, and his online obituary says he was a volunteer with the local United Way. Megan and Jay-Z have done stuff with United Way, so some moron concluded the doctor is tied to Roc Nation through United Way.

No, I'm not kidding. Someone made a YouTube video acting like it is some kind of society-shaking discovery, and it got a bunch of views. Various idiots continue to repeat this lie with eye-rolling regularity.

This is the level of discourse we get with the Tory Lanez case.

Prosecutors filed their recommendation for a 13-year sentence two months ago. It cited Lanez’s lack of remorse, his inability to comply with pre-trial release and his campaign of misinformation and harassment against Megan. legalaffairsandtrials.com/p/prosecutors-…

There are two aggravating circumstances Judge Herriford can consider at sentencing - great bodily harm and use of a gun. Prosecutor also cite Meg’s vulnerability as a victim and described the “callousness” of Lanez’s crimes. bit.ly/3IBEttE

I'll be live on YouTube during the 90-minute break to detail what's happened so far and answer questions. ETA is 12:30 p.m. Pacific. Tune in here:

Lanez’s lawyers are asking for probation while acknowledging he is legally presumed ineligible for probation. Lanez maintains his innocence but says if he did do it, it’s because of his traumatic childhood and alcoholism, so he needs therapy, not prison. bit.ly/3q7ygzP

Defense attorney Matthew Barhoma is still involved in the case. He just showed up to the courthouse and I got the tail end of the media mob.

I'm up in the 9th floor hallway now waiting to get into the courtroom. It's packed. Lots of people for other cases, including jury pools, and a lot of reporters for the Lanez sentencing.Jose Baez and Ed Welbourn just walked by and met up with Barhoma. Ed introduced himself.

Sentencings are like trial reunions.

There are some people here I haven't seen in a while, including the woman who told me, "Jay Z is a bitch. Report that: Jay Z is a bitch" in the courtroom moments after Lanez was convicted. She hasn't been around since the verdict.

We are weirdly lined up right now to go into the courtroom, which doesn’t match @LASuperiorCourt’s long tradition of never, ever starting on time, ever, but we haven’t actually gone into the courtroom yet so we could end up standing here for 30 minutes.

Alright we are on the 90-minute break. Judge Herriford got 70+ letters of support for Tory Lanez, including one from @IggyAzalea. He briefly summarized each one. Two jailers wrote letters, one spoke in court. Lanez' father, Sonstar Peterson, was the last speaker before the break.

Sonstar tearfully apologized to Judge Herriford for his HUGE outburst in the courtroom after the verdict, said he was emotional and doesn't disrespect the judge.

Before all this, Herriford decided the aggravating factors. Yes to use of a gun and Meg as a vulnerable victim.

But Judge Herriford said no to finding the crime was done with a high-level of callousness. How this will affect the sentence is not yet known. We're going to get into that after lunch, after more speakers.

A jail chaplain spoke about Lanez starting a daily prayer in the protective custody unit that has lessened the tensions between inmates. He said of the 15,000 inmates he's come into contact with, Lanez stands out. He said the daily moment of prayer is really powerful.

I haven't seen the letters yet, but most interesting to me was Herriford saying a jailer wrote a letter that says Lanez "is remorseful" and has "talked in detail about the event and what he could have done to prevent it."

It's the closest we've ever come to Lanez saying he did.

That jailer didn't talk in court, but the chaplain did. (I should be able to get the letters, but maybe not today.)

Judge Herriford said Iggy Azalae's letter asks him to impose a sentence "that is transformational, not life destroying."

I'm about to go live on YouTube. Tune in! Ask your questions in the chat.

Lanez has family and supporters in court, but, unlike the trial, his six-year-old son is not one of them. Lanez had him in the courtroom when Megan testified, but I haven’t seen him today. The boy did hand-write a letter to Judge Herriford though, which the judge referenced.

We are on a break. We've heard from several others, including the mother of Lanez's son who's known him since 6th grade. She talked a lot about his charitable work. We also heard from the CEO of Unite the People, and another charity leader who talked about Lanez's involvement.

Notably, the DA's office has a lot of people sitting in the jury box, including 10 women in the box row. They're a racially diverse group of mostly women prosecutors. They are sitting taking this all in, and the looks on some of their faces show how unusual the Q and A is.

Especially when Jose Baez asked a charity guy who knows Lanez to talk about how this case has affected him financially. Yeah....

Incredibly, Judge Herriford managed to not finish today. We are coming back tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. A few more things to talk about, then argument, then Herriford will sentence Tory Lanez.

Megan did not speak in person, but she submitted a statement that DA Kathy Ta read aloud.

Megan said she struggled with whether to attend in person, and her absence should be seen as her preserving her mental well being. She said since Tory shot her, "I've not experienced a single day of piece."

"He lied to anyone that would listen," Megan said of Lanez.

Megan said mercy is for people who show remorse, and Lanez has shown none. She thanked for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office for their support. She wants the sentence to be a message for everyone woman of violence.

Important: Judge Herriford said he believes Lanez’s actions after the shooting, the social media posts and harassment of Megan, are a major aggravating factor in his sentence. He says he won’t consider lack of remorse, but he says considering the post-shooting actions are similar

Jose Baez spoke and answered questions for about 12 minutes outside the courthouse a few moments ago. I’ve got the video uploading to YouTube now and will post ASAP.

I'm going live on YouTube right now for a quick update. Tune in!

Re: Obviously Megan said “I've not experienced a single day of peace." Not piece!

https://twitter.com/meghanncuniff/status/1688694109970771969?s=46&t=YnxiX7ekz5B0xxCU-RfArw

More from Megan Thee Stallion’s statement at Tory Lanez’s sentencing: “He not only shot me, he made a mockery of my trauma. He tried to position himself as a victim and set out to destroy my character and my soul.”

“He lied to anyone that would listen and paid bloggers to disseminate false information about the case on social media. He released music videos and songs to damage my character and continue his crusade.”

- Megan @TheeStallion’s written statement at Tory Lanez’s sentencing

“At first, he tried to deny the shooting ever happened. Then, he attempted to place the blame on my former best friend. In his tantrum of lies, he’s blamed the system, blamed the press and, as of late, he’s using his childhood trauma to shield himself and avoid culpability.”

“For once, the defendant must be forced to face the full consequences of his heinous actions and face justice.”

- Megan Thee Stallion on Tory Lanez.

The sentencing hearing continues tomorrow at 10:30 am in Los Angeles.

From Mona the sketch artist today (@mse1125): One of Tory Lanez, and one of Lanez’s father and stepmother. Follow Mona on Instagram. (Mona knows everything.) https://t.co/TYlkeyAZA7instagram.com/monashaferedwa…

Re: Tory Lanez's 76 letters. One is from a police chief in Missouri and another from is a state rep. Both are about Lanez's charity work.

Another is from a doctor who treated Lanez for hair loss. He wrote that Lanez "has helped others in the community suffering from hair loss."

Here's my full video of Tory Lanez's Jose Baez talking outside his sentencing hearing today. Hearing continues tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.

Re: Iggy Azalea's letter for Tory Lanez, she posted this tonight saying she didn't know it was going to be public and thought it was for judge's eyes only. (Herriford is making all letters publicly, obviously in a push for full transparency on his part.)

https://twitter.com/IGGYAZALEA/status/1688741685075791872?s=20

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