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Puffy Jury Selected
We aren't talking O.J. Simpson (he's so 20th century), we're talking self-styled hip-hop bad boy Sean "Puffy" Combs, who's facing serious gun and bribery charges.
Granted, the century is still young, but seeing how long it took just to pick the jury--both sides went through 150 potentials--the entertainment world could be in for an interesting celebrity-driven saga that's supposed to last at least five weeks.
On Thursday, the panel was finally set, as Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Charles Solomon seated a five-woman, seven-man jury after six days of selection. Five of the jurors were white, while the remaining seven were either Hispanic or African American. Six alternates were also picked.
After some final legal wranglings Friday, lawyers and witnesses will have the weekend to prepare for opening statements Monday.
The event in question happened December 27, 1999, at the Club NY, a Times Square hotspot, where three people were injured after an early morning shooting. Combs and his gal-pal, actress-singer Jennifer Lopez, fled the scene after the shots rang out, hopped into their SUV and drove away, running 11 red lights before police finally pulled them over. The cops found a loaded gun in the front seat and another gun apparently thrown out the window during the chase.
The Bad Boy Entertainment mogul was arrested--for gun posession and later rung up on bribery charges after allegedly trying to get his driver to take the rap by offering him $50,000 and Lopez's gem-encrusted pinky ring.
Joining the rap star in court will be his bodyguard, Anthony "Wolf" Jones, who is accused of having the loaded gun by his feet, and Combs' 19-year-old rap protégé Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, who faces charges of gun possession and attempted murder--he is accused of firing the shots. All three men have pleaded not guilty.
Combs, who faces 15 years in prison if convicted of gun possession, has repeatedly denied the charges.
His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, has said 30 witnesses will testify that Combs had no gun during the shooting.
The prosecution, however, seems to have talked to different people: "I have not interviewed one single person who told me that Mr. Combs did not have a gun during the time of the shootings," Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos has said.
Lopez is listed as a witness for both the prosecution and the defense, but she may not testify at all, as her lawyer has not received a subpoena. She was with Combs at the club, and held for questioning following his arrest, but was not charged with any crime.
After the arrest, she issued a statement about Combs saying: "I was with him that night. At no time did I see him with a gun. I support him wholeheartedly throughout this difficult time."
Meanwhile, as jury selection was going on in the courtroom, the real drama was being played out in the New York tabloids. On Wednesday, the New York Daily News reported Combs and Lopez were on the outs, saying she was having a furtive fling with a dancer named Chris from her latest video. Reps for Lopez and Combs immediately denied the story, and in an interview on Live with Regis taped Wednesday and broadcast Thursday, Lopez insisted she and the Puffster were still an item.
Then, the New York Post reported that the supposed lovebirds had a deal in which Lopez would publicly state her love--and, perhaps more importantly her support--for Puffy througout the trial, and then split. And, of course, their reps have denied such an agreement exists.
In any case, the circus commences Monday.
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