Rapper Tory Lanez opted not to testify Wednesday in his trial on charges that he shot and wounded fellow musician Megan Thee Stallion.
Superior Court Judge David Herriford instructed jurors that Lanez -- whose real name is Daystar Peterson -- has an "absolute constitutional right not to testify" and that they are not to consider that for "any reason at all."
In a packed courtroom last week, Megan Thee Stallion testified that Lanez told her to "dance, bitch," and shot her in the feet following a July 12, 2020, get-together at Kylie Jenner's home. The entertainer said she had no doubt that Lanez fired the shots. "At this time, we were at the height of police brutality with George Floyd," she said, adding that she didn't want to see anybody die and that it was "not really acceptable" in the Black community to cooperate with police.
Within about five minutes of the shooting, a female friend who was with Megan Thee Stallion texted one of the rapper's security guards, "Help," "Tory shot meg," and "911," the prosecutor said, and police subsequently found the gun still warm to the touch on the floorboard near where Lanez had been seated, according to the prosecutor.
Harris testified that she didn't know who shot Megan Thee Stallion, didn't want to be involved in the case and denied receiving any "hush money" from Lanez. In a recorded interview subsequently played in court, Harris can be heard telling prosecutors that she saw Lanez shooting at his fellow rapper, but said he "did not say anything."
In an op-ed published in The New York Times, she wrote that she was "recently the victim of an act of violence by a man" and that she was initially silent about what had happened "out of fear for myself and my friends."
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