Tory Lanez Retains Suge Knight's Lawyer Following Guilty Verdict

Tory Lanez is switching up his legal team ahead of his upcoming court date.

According to tweets Law & Crime reporter Meghann Cuniff sent out on Sunday, January 8, Lanez fired his previous defense attorney George Mgdesyan and retained the services of David Kenner. For the unfamiliar, Kenner used to represent Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight. He also represented Snoop Dogg when he was arrested on murder charges in 1996. Snoop was acquitted on the charges and Knight's negligence trial ended in a mistrial last year. Tory Lanez is expected to appear in court on January 10.

“Regarding Tory Lanez’s Tuesday court date, yes, there is a date listed on the jail roster,” Cuniff tweeted. “It’s not on Judge Herriford’s calendar, and he’s got a bunch of other stuff at the time. Attorney David Kenner confirmed to me last week he’s now representing Tory.”

Kenner's presence might be a little late since Lanez was already convicted of all three charges against him including felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm, possession of a concealed, unregistered firearm and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 27 so, as of this report, it's not clear what this week's proceedings will be about. Cuniff offered her thoughts about the last-minute move.

"Some clues about what's going on: Prosecutors tried to add a bribery count to Tory's charges during trial, which the judge rejected," she explained. "Any post-conviction motion from David Kenner regarding false evidence or witness testimony is very unlikely to come this quick."

"To be clear: We really have no idea what this is, and there is no way any serious post-conviction motion would be filed and heard this quick," she added. "Tory was convicted on Dec. 23 and there was a huge holiday break. There is no way there’s been a serious motion fully briefed."

Tory Lanez's trial lasted for eight days while nearly two days of closing arguments and a day of deliberation from the jury. Once the verdict was read, Lanez was immediately taken into custody and registered into the Los Angeles County Jail system. He could face up to 22 years and eight months in prison and could face deportation.