\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAs Tory Lanez<\/a> serves his 10-year prison sentence<\/a> for shooting Megan Thee Stallion<\/a> in both feet back in July 2020, the rapper has been pursuing multiple avenues to try to overturn his conviction<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tOn Tuesday, an appellate court in California denied a pair of so-called writ of habeas corpus petitions that he filed in 2023 and 2024 to invalidate the jury\u2019s verdict based on issues or evidence not presented during the trial. (Lanez\u2019s separate direct appeal, which is based on what Los Angeles County jurors did hear during his December 2022 trial, is still pending with oral arguments set for Monday.)<\/p>\n \n\tIn their rulings issued Tuesday, the same three-judge panel with California\u2019s Second District Court of Appeal said Lanez\u2019s \u201cpiecemeal\u201d claims didn\u2019t meet the requirements for habeas relief. In one petition, Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, alleged that the firearm recovered in the case had \u201cbeen misplaced and is currently missing,\u201d depriving him of access. The judges said that simply wasn\u2019t so. They pointed to a sworn statement from an LAPD officer that confirmed that the firearm, its magazine, and all the bullets and fragments collected as evidence remained in police custody. <\/p>\n \n\tThe judges further noted that Peterson \u201cfailed to request further DNA testing in the trial court,\u201d and that he also failed to explain how any further testing could prove his innocence. And if Peterson was referring to \u201cthe bullet fragments that surgeons removed from the victim\u2019s feet,\u201d they noted that \u201cthose are unlikely to have usable fingerprints or DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAt trial, experts on both sides agreed that police testing of the magazine showed none of Peterson\u2019s DNA was present. They also agreed that testing of the gun itself was inconclusive, meaning it could neither exclude nor include Peterson as a minor contributor to the DNA found on the firearm. Jurors heard that and still decided to convict Peterson based on testimony from Megan, a neighbor who witnessed the shooting, and a recorded statement from Megan\u2019s former best friend, Kelsey Harris, who was with Megan when the shooting took place on a residential street after a party in the Hollywood Hills.<\/p>\n