Jurors to hear 80-minute interview in which Megan Thee Stallion’s former assistant told prosecutors she saw Tory Lanez shoot her ex-boss

Juries can hear the full 80-minute interview Megan The Stallion Her former best friend and assistant told law enforcement that she had seen the rapper Tory Lanez On Thursday, a judge ruled that its former boss should be shot.

This former assistant, Kelsey Harris, recently, she disavowed her claim on the witness stand, in a startling backflip that prosecutors seemed to attribute to defendant pressure. In a win for prosecutors, jurors will be able to hear the full, unedited witness notes from September, before Harris’ abrupt reversal.

Prosecutors could only play a few parts of the recording during Harris’ testimony, to try to refresh her memory if she said she didn’t remember saying something or to try to show that her current testimony contradicted what she had said previously.

But a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge David Hereford They said they could do the full interview because Lenz’s attorney George Majesian Harris was questioned repeatedly about the interview, and he asked if prosecutors had pressured her into making a statement.

Harris testified Thursday, “I felt I had to,” when Magdisian asked about being pressured.

“Your goal was to incriminate my client and distance yourself from him?” Magdisian asked.

Harris replied, “No.”

“Are you afraid of my client, Tory Lanez, mr.? Daystar Peterson? Magdisian asked, referring to his client by his birth name. Lenz sat at the defense table looking at Harris and his family and supporters seated behind him.

Harris replied, “No.”

Deputy Public Prosecutor Alexander Bot He told Herriford that Magdisian’s questions about Harris’ interview and his interactions with prosecutors were “unacceptable,” “unprofessional,” and “opened the door to full recording” of the Harris interview to be run because it would show that Harris was only told to tell the truth.

Herriford decided at the end of the day to allow it, saying it was admissible under California Evidence Code 1235 and 770 regarding statements by previous witnesses and inconsistencies with existing testimony.

That means jurors will hear the full recording of Harris speaking with prosecutors less than two months ago about the fight and shooting on July 12, 2020. As a result of the dispute, the Escalade they were in was stopped by an LAPD officer on Hollywood Boulevard at approximately 4:30 a.m. Lanez was arrested for the shooting, while Harris went to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles to be with Meghan. She was also treated for bullet fragments in her feet.

One foot required surgery, surgeon’s assistant Lee Haruno Thursday witnessed. Jurors saw X-rays of Meghan’s feet with bullet fragments inside. The shrapnel, Haruno said, “can cause persistent pain or be symptomatic if left in place.” Haruno also said he considers any amount of lead in someone a splinter, because generally whole bullets don’t stay intact, and surgeons don’t always see exactly what to remove. Haruno said Meghan was under anesthesia, the surgery took “probably about an hour” and she was hospitalized overnight.

After the doctor’s testimony, Harris recalled the situation. Judge Hereford allowed Harris to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination after she told him privately why she wanted to do so, in the presence of her attorney. The reasons were not disclosed, and prosecutors said they did not conduct an investigation.

In her testimony, Harris, 27, repeatedly told the deputy attorney general Cathy Ta that she was not honest in the September interview, and never saw Lenz shoot as she said in the September 20 interview.

She also repeatedly contradicted herself and displayed aloof behavior, which Ta suggested starkly contrasted with the emotions she displayed in September. Ta confirmed that Harris was in a more relaxed atmosphere when she spoke with prosecutors just months ago, and her husband was there to support her — and Lenz and his supporters weren’t sitting in the same room. Explaining the shooting in full in the interview, Harris told prosecutors how Lanez threatened to shoot her and then pulled her out of her Escalade by the hair.

Juries will be allowed to consider the behavior and credibility of witnesses when they decide whether to convict 30-year-old Lenz, who is charged with assault with a semi-automatic firearm and intentional discharge of a firearm, also with negligence. He faces a maximum of 22 years and 8 months if convicted.

Ta on Wednesday repeatedly tried to prove Harris was in fact truthful in the September interview while Harris has repeatedly said otherwise. When Harris returned to testify Thursday, Ta told her that the “use of immunity” granted to her in exchange for her testimony did not cover perjury.

“You don’t have immunity from perjuring yourself on the stand,” Ta said.

Harris said, “Yes, ma’am.”

That didn’t change her testimony: She said she just assumed Megan had been shot, and that she hadn’t seen Lenz shoot. Ta pressed her about the September interview so much that she once told Judge Hereford, “Your honor, I don’t remember our conversation from September. She was constantly asking me the same things,” but the questioning continued.

Magdisian argues that Lenz is wrongly accused and that it was Harris who fired five shots from a semi-automatic pistol at Megan while the women were fighting over their dueling romantic interest in Lenz and other men.

His name is Magdisian the rapper Dababy and a Brooklyn Nets star Ben Simmons In his opening statement as examples, though neither man was mentioned during Meghan’s or Harris’ testimony. Magdisian also said that Megan was upset with Lenz’s desire to stay with the reality star Kylie Jenner In her house, where Megan and Harris witnessed, friends gathered for hours, drinking, swimming and playing beer pong. Meghan testified that it did not bother her, but Harris testified that Meghan was giggling and got into a fight or altercation outside before they left, although she said she did not know what had happened.

While she didn’t want to talk about the shooting, Harris seemed less reticent when Magdisian pressed her about her fractured friendship with Meghan, whom she had known since 2013 and worked with as a personal assistant as Meghan’s fame grew. She said that Linz said something in the Escalade about Megan needing to stop lying, implying that Megan was hiding from their past relationship with Harris because Harris had her romantic interest in Linz. Meghan testified on Tuesday that she didn’t want Harris to know she “dealt with him anyway” because Harris was her best friend and she didn’t want to upset her.

“How does that make you feel that she’s done that to you so many times?” Magdisian asked.

“Like everyone else would feel.” Harris replied.

Harris said she never heard Lenz say, “Dance, bitch!” He denied having pulled her out of the car.

Magdisian pressed Harris in a crossover about whether she and Meghan were fighting before shooting Megan. Tell her over and over that she needs to be honest and remind her that she has immunity.

Harris hesitated, then said again and again how drunk she was.

“Kelsey, I understand it has something to do with the alcohol,” Majdisian said, asking if there was any physical fighting between her and Megan.

She replied, “Maybe we like bumping into each other.”

Magdisian Harris also asked about a rap she wrote insulting Meghan where she says, “I’m shooting you”, implying that she gets herself involved in the shooting, which she has repeatedly denied responsibility for.

“I’m sure you know how rap lyrics go,” said Harris.

The jury also heard from a police crime analyst who said they found gunshot residue on the swabs of Lanes and Harris but not Lanes’ driver, Jaquan Smith.

A police detective who looked into the response Lenz’s Instagram account made to a comment that said, “The people who said Kelsey shot her,” also testified, with Magdisian proving in exhaustive testing that he did not know exactly who posted the comment from Lenz’s account.

Certification will begin on Friday at 10:30 am

Follow Reporter Megan Cuniff on Twitter To get live updates from the court.

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