A privileged document sent from Tory Lanez’s first lawyer, Shawn Holley, to the rapper hints that she pulled out from his case because she disagreed with the proposed defense in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting case, which would have put the blame on Kelsey Harris and have Tory and his driver, Jauquan “Quan” Smith commit perjury to achieve that end.
Holley was first announced as Tory’s lawyer after he was charged and last represented the lawyer on November 3, 2022, when she appeared in court for a hearing. Following that, it was revealed that there was a possible plea offer from prosecutors and that the rapper would take the stand to give testimony.
However, weeks later, Holley was replaced by George Mgdesyan, and the defense strategy changed from taking the plea offer. The communication between Holley and Tory Lanez via email reveals the real reason that the lawyer extricated herself from the trial.
In the letter dated November 21, 2022, titled ‘CONFIDENTIAL/ ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATION,’ Holley expressed that she was uncomfortable with the instructions by Tory to blame Kelsey Harris.
“As we discussed on Saturday, I am not comfortable advancing the ‘Kelsie Defense’, primarily because I don’t find it to be a viable strategy. I don’t believe my position will change unless Quan is persuasive in the preview of his testimony and you are persuasive under mock cross-examination by George and/or Lisa. Even if both of those benchmarks (Quan/you) were to be satisfied I am still not certain that I would be willing to go forward,” the privileged email began.
“In light of that, you should discuss with George his willingness and ability to move forward with that defense and if he can do so by the trial date (December 6). I will help him get up to speed if that is something you/he are interested in. All the best, Shawn,” the email ended.
The damaging email comes at a time when Tory’s defense is preparing their memorandum to recommend sentencing for Lanez later in August. The prosecution has recommended 13 years for the three charges, although the maximum sentence could be around 20 years.
The rapper’s defense theory, led by George Mgdesyan, focused mainly on Megan’s sex life, her sexual relationship with Tory Lanez, and a fight between her and her best friend, Kelsey Harris. Lanez’s defense painted a picture that Kelsey was the shooter because the two women were jealous of each other and fought over the rapper leading to Kelsey shooting Megan Thee Stallion.
That theory was contrary to both women’s testimony on the stand as well as a third witness who claimed to see the entire incident and identified Lanez as the one who fired the gun that shot Megan. Damaging evidence presented by the prosecution included a jail phone call from Tory to Harris where he asked her to tell Megan he was sorry, as well as text messages to both Kelsey and Megan expressing he was sorry and previous consistent statements from both Kelsey and Harris that named Tory as the shooter.
“As we discussed on Saturday, I am not comfortable advancing the ‘Kelsie Defense’ , primarily because I don’t find it to be a viable strategy.”
– criminal defense attorney Shawn Holley to rapper Tory Lanez before his trial for shooting Megan Thee Stallionhttps://t.co/VRNzHmbej5 pic.twitter.com/8zSsk1KQy3— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) June 19, 2023
“You should also be aware that Alex Spiro, Megan’s lawyer, and/or counsel for @RocNation have launched an investigation into Kelsey having being “compromised” (bribed or threatened).”
? Shawn Holley when she quit as Tory Lanez’s lawyer https://t.co/VRNzHmbej5 pic.twitter.com/IUiMXFSzG7— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) June 19, 2023
On Monday, many observers and fans of the rapper reacted to the leaked email.
“Paraphrasing this for y’all, the lawyer said: “I don’t feel comfortable lying for you…get somebody else to do it,” one person commented on Instagram.
“In summation, she didn’t wanna use that defense because it was a LIE and she was uncomfortable with pursuing said LIE,” another said.
“And that’s why PROTECTING BLACK WOMEN is a thing! You shot a black woman and wanted another black woman, her fxckin friend at that, to go down for it. You sir, are exactly where you should be!” another person said.
Attorney Holley has not reacted since the privileged communication was released. It’s unclear if she would suffer any consequences for the communication being leaked.
