A lawyer representing Tory Lanez quietly filed a request to delay the rapper’s sentencing in California on Thursday (June 1).
According to Meghann Cuniff’s Legal Affairs and Trials newsletter, attorney Matthew Barhoma sought a delay a few weeks after filing a petition to disqualify Judge David Herriford. The judge is scheduled to sentence Tory Lanez for a shooting conviction on June 13.
Barhoma and attorney Jose Baez claimed Judge Herriford wasn’t impartial in the Tory Lanez shooting case. The lawyers filed an appellate petition on May 19, but an appellate court hasn’t ruled on the matter.
Judge Herriford can proceed with sentencing while the petition is pending. He denied any bias against Tory Lanez.
“I am not prejudiced or biased against or in favor of any party to this proceeding or their counsel,” the judge wrote. “All rulings made by me in this action have been based upon facts and arguments officially presented to me and upon my understanding of the law … All statements made by me and all actions taken by me in this proceeding have been done in furtherance of what I believe were my judicial duties.”
Last December, Tory Lanez was convicted of shooting Megan Thee Stallion. A jury found him guilty of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, discharging a firearm with gross negligence and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle.
Tory Lanez faces up to 22 years and eight months in prison. He has remained in jail since his December 2022 conviction.