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Tory Lanez has officially filed a motion to appeal his guilty verdict stemming from the Megan Thee Stallion shooting trial.

According to Rolling Stone, this week, the Canadian rapper filed an appeal to challenge his conviction, ahead of his sentencing April 10. In court documents obtained by the outlet, his lawyers Joe Baez and Matthew Barhoma said prosecutors showed a photo of Lanez’s firearm tattoo on his chest. They claimed that the image hurt Lanez’s testimony and painted him as “a gun-wielding career criminal.”

The law team also claimed that the photo “deprived” the rapper of “due process.”

“Ironically, [the] defendant’s tattoo was an homage to Tupac Shakur. Mr. Shakur used his music and tattoos to discuss socio-political issues affecting the Black community in the 90s,” his lawyers wrote, according to the outlet. “Mr. Shakur carried the same AK-47 tattoo on his chest as a symbol of Black unity and the fight against racism.”

The legal aids also took issue with the lengthy interview that Kelsey Harris conducted with prosecutors. In the audio, which was played in the courtroom, Harris, Meg’s former friend, alleged Lanez threatened to shoot her as they were driving in the vehicle before the roadside assault, but she later recanted the statement during her testimony. She also never confirmed whether she saw the “LUV” artist shoot the gun.

RELATED CONTENT: 4 Key Moments From Kelsey Harris’ Testimony In The Tory Lanez Shooting Trial

Tory Lanez’s legal team claims prosecutors showed misleading evidence that hurt his testimony

Further along in the court document, Baez and Barhoma scolded prosecutors for submitting an Instagram photo that included a remark from one of Megan’s producers in the comments section. They alleged that police matched the bullet fragments in Megan’s foot to the bullets in Lanez’s gun, PEOPLE noted. Additionally, the lawyers claimed prosecutors should have never shown Lanez’s message to Megan following the shooting that read, “Please don’t say anything because I’m on probation.”

Lastly, both legal aids argued that a September 2020 Instagram post from the hip-hop star’s profile was “erroneously allowed” to be shown to jurors during the trial.
“The post denied allegations that Harris was the one who allegedly shot Megan,” the report noted.

The post was created after The Shade Room published a story about the allegation that read, “People saying Kelsey shot her.” A content creator for Lanez, Joshua Farias, submitted a declaration with the appeal, admitting that at the time, he was using Lanez’s account when he commented “that’s not true” underneath The Shade Room’s post.

Lanez’s legal team said that the Instagram post should not have been shown in court before officials could determine who “actually” wrote the comment. They believe the post “deprived the defendant of a fair trial.”

“The only acceptable remedy for this miscarriage of justice is a new trial,” they added.

In December 2022, the Daystar rapper was found guilty of assault with a semiautomatic firearm; carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence for shooting Megan in 2020.

He will be sentenced April 10 and could receive up to 22 years and eight months in state prison.

RELATED CONTENT: Tory Lanez’ Leaked Jail Call To Kelsey Harris Surfaces, And He Sounds Guilty As Hell

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