Lil' Kim Lying Case Kicks Off

Time for a jury to decide if Lil' Kim's a lil' liar.

The rap diva's federal trial on perjury and obstruction charges got rolling Tuesday in a Manhattan courtroom.

The 29-year-old hip-hop star, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, is accused of lying to a grand jury about a 2001 shootout involving two members of her entourage and that left a person associated with rival rap outfit Murder Unit seriously injured with a bullet in his back.

In his opening statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Gitner painted an unflattering portrait of the potty-mouthed rapper and her friend and assistant, Monique Dopwell, claiming both gave false statements to investigators when asked about the trigger men, Kim's manager and a bodyguard, to protect the from prosecution.

"They flat-out lied," Gitner told the panel. "The defendants decided not to honor the oath they took. They decided the oath did not apply to them."

The manager, Damian Butler, pleaded guilty on Jan. 28 to weapons charges and using a false passport. He is facing up to 15 years in prison for firing his gun while outside the New York rap station Hot 97, aka WQHT-FM. Kim's former bodyguard, 34-year-old Suif Jackson, pleaded guilty last June to illegal weapons possession and was sentenced to 12 years in the Big House.

Lil' Kim and Dopwell, who were indicted in April 2004, have both pleaded innocent to the perjury and conspiracy charges. They have accused prosecutors of launching a witch hunt against the hip-hop industry. If convicted, each could receive a maximum 30 years behind bars.

In his opening remarks, defense attorney Mel Sachs said Lil' Kim was too traumatized by the gunplay at the radio station to recall every detail, telling jurors "a person can be incorrect and not intentionally lie."

But prosecutors are expected to argue that Lil' Kim fibbed big time when she told the grand jury that Butler was not there the day of the shooting and repeatedly stated that she didn't know Jackson.

To prove its case, prosecutors are planning on putting on a show-and-tell for the jury. Gitner plans to introduce as evidence liner notes from one of Kim's albums proving Jones' close personal ties with the two men, especially Jackson, whom Gitner says she's known for more than a decade. Jurors are also expected to see music videos that contain references to Butler and Jackson, as well as footage of a nearby surveillance camera that purportedly proves Jones witnessed the gunfight then hopped into a limo with the suspects.

Gitner also plans to lay out the basics of the shooting, which authorities say was sparked by Lil' Kim and her Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s feud with Murder Unit rappers Foxy Brown and Capone-N-Noreaga. Gitner says he will call both Butler and Jackson to the stand, along with Capone and two former members of the Junior M.A.F.I.A., Banger and Lil' Cease, who were at the scene and who will supposedly testify against their onetime cohort.

Sachs disputes the allegations, insisting that his client will be exonerated as long as the jury five-women, seven-man jury sticks to the facts presented, and not indict the hip-hop industry.

"The truth is Kimberly Jones is not guilty...Mr. Gitner's case is a case of window dressing," Sachs insisted.

Sachs said that Kim was never asked about Jackson, but only presented with a hazy photograph with a guy's face she barely recognized. She said the mug looked familiar and that she'd "seen him around."

As for the surveillance video, Sachs said the scene was so chaotic that ID'ing the shooters was difficult, if not downright impossible.

"Looking through the eyes of the camera is not looking through the eyes of Kimberly Jones," he said.

The Grammy-winning rapper, whose hip-hop handle derives from her tiny 4-foot, 11-inch frame, has eschewed her typical boob-revealing, bling-bling-loaded wardrobe for more discreet attire during her court appearances over the past several days.

The tone-down image is keeping in with Judge Gerard E. Lynch's admonition to prosecutors and potential jurors that this was not a case against the hip-hop world and the gangsta lifestyle. During jury selection last week, lawyers on both sides tried to choose an open-minded panel and dismissed potential jurors from the pool whose answers in pretrial questionnaires contained obvious biases--such as "a lot of them seem to shoot each other."

In a sad coincidence, Kim's trial gets rolling just as another rap-related shooting took place outside Hot 97. Late Monday, a man with ties to rapper the Game was shot in the leg and hospitalized in stable condition. The incident came as 50 Cent was giving an interview dissing the Game, a onetime protégé.