Tory Lanez’s attorneys have called their first witness, an expert who testified that his DNA was not found in the gun used to shoot Megan Thee Stallion.
On Friday (December 16) Forensic scientist Marc Scott Taylor told the court that Tory Lanez’s DNA was not found on the magazine of the gun, and that tests done on the DNA found on the gun itself were inconclusive, Insider reports
Taylor’s testimony corroborated the Los Angeles Police Departments investigation and echoed statements made on the stand by criminalist Randy Zepeda, who was called by the prosecution earlier in the day. However, Zepeda also said that DNA is not always found, or even left behind, on objects.
Both testimonies support DJ Akademiks’ claims earlier this year, when he maintained to have seen the completed DNA results, which he said Tory Lanez’s attorney called “very pleasing to his client.”
At the time, Rolling Stone reporter Nancy Dillon and Page Six Senior Reporter Eileen Reslen both refuted Akademiks’ claims and insisted DNA evidence wasn’t even brought up. As Reslen explained in a tweet, “FAKE NEWS ALERT: Any reports of Tory Lanez’s DNA not being found on the weapon in the Megan Thee Stallion case are FALSE. Today’s pre-trial hearing was just postponed to April 5 and that fake news tweet was sent out before the hearing even started.”
Prior to Marc Taylor taking the stand, the jury heard from Srinivasan Rathinam, who was also called by the prosecution. The firearms examiner stated that considering the number of shell casings recovered and the amount of force needed to shoot the the semiautomatic 9mm luger caliber firearm believed to have been used in Megan Thee Stallion’s July 2020 shooting, he could not would not call the incident unintentional.
If you just tap the trigger, it won’t fire, you need to pull the trigger all the way down. I’m not sure whether I can call this an accident,” Rathinam said after confirming that the five shell casings found on the scene matched the weapon, which was recovered on the floor of the SUV in which Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez were travelling on the night in question.
During their opening statements on Monday (December 12), prosecutors that the gun was found in “slide-lock position,” which means that each of the five shots were each fired one at a time.
The trial was adjourned for the weekend and is set to resume on Monday. The defense has not yet indicated whether Tory Lanez will take the stand before the jury is dismissed to deliberate on this case.