A motion to replace Tory Lanez‘s legal team with a new lawyer who believes he is being taken advantage of has been denied.
On Wednesday, a judge rejected Ronda Renee Dixon’s request to replace Matthew Barhoma as Lanez’s attorney.
Before the court date, Dixon told legal journalist Meghann Canniff that she would like to work with Lanez’s current lawyer, prominent Miami attorney Jose Baez, but said: “me and him have some serious issues because he won’t talk to me.”
“These guys are just taking advantage of [Lanez],” Dixon told Legal Affairs and Trials with Meghann Cuniff. “They’ve had him sign powers of attorneys. They’re acting on his behalf. … They’re not really asking him what he wants.”
Additionally, Dixon shared a motion she drafted that argued Lanez is being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment as a result of his celebrity.
“Because Mr. Peterson has viable, meritorious post-conviction litigation, this court should award bail,” she wrote. “The unconstitutional nature of his confinement provides ample justification. Peterson’s conviction is not punishable by death. Because he will apply for probation, file an appeal, and pursue additional post-conviction remedies, this court should admit him bail within the court’s discretion.”
She continued: “Merely because he is well known, the Sheriff has decided that Mr. Peterson is of such great threat that he must be confined in the same manner as those convicted of serial rape charges and murder.”
A substitution of counsel agreement signed by Lanez, his previous lawyer, and Dixon last month did not explain why the motion was denied.
The rapper is expected to be officially sentenced on August 7.
