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Jury selection begins in trial of Sean 'Puffy' Combs
Jury selection got underway on Wednesday (1/17) in the trial of rapper and record company mogul Sean “Puffy” Combs, who is accused of gun possession and bribery in connection with a December 1999 shooting incident at a New York nightclub.
According to published reports, New York State Supreme Court Judge Charles Solomon denied a Tuesday (1/16) request by Combs’ attorney Benjamin Brafman to delay the jury selection for a week. Brafman had argued that recent media reports about Combs’ past brushes with the law would taint the jury pool.
Jury selection is expected to take about a week. If convicted, Combs could face 15 years in prison.
Combs and co-defendant Anthony Jones are charged with illegal possession of a stolen gun that police said was found on the floor of the vehicle in which Combs and Jones fled the 1999 shooting. Combs is also accused of attempting to bribe a witness.
Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, a rapper who released his first album on Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment label last year, faces charges of attempted murder, assault, possession of a weapon and harassment. Prosecutors are expected to argue that Barrow fired the shots that resulted in injuries to three people at the nightclub.
Two other passengers in the fleeing vehicle--Combs' girlfriend Jennifer Lopez and his driver Wardel Fenderson--were not charged with crimes. Fenderson, who reportedly has been cooperating with prosecutors, has claimed that Combs offered him $50,000 to tell police the gun belonged to him.
