FINAL DAY OF PUFFY TRIAL BRINGS CLAIMS OF WITNESS TAMPERING
And Not One To His Mother
The New York District Attorney's office will likely accuse Sean "Puffy" Combs of witness tampering in the latest twist in the rapper's ongoing weapons and bribery trial, which is expected to conclude early next week.
According to records presented by the DA in court Wednesday (3/7), telephone calls were made between Combs [or his peeps] and witnesses who had testified under oath that Combs did not have gun on the evening of the nightclub shooting.
The three witnesses, who previously testified about the shooting that injured three people on Dec. 27, 1999, each denied speaking to the rapper after the incident occurred.
But phone records obtained by prosecutors allegedly show otherwise.
Security guard Charise Myers said she hadn't spoken to Combs after the incident, but phone records show a three-minute call from her home to Combs' cell phone on Jan. 8, 2000. Records also show five calls in January from a cell phone owned by witness Christopher Chambers, the auto technician who testified that he did not know Combs. One return call from Combs' phone to Chambers in January was also reportedly tracked. In addition, a third set of calls, 22 made in December, came from witness Glen Beck's home to Combs bodyguard Paul Offord. Defense witness Beck had testified that he didn't believe Combs had a gun at the club that night.
Compounding Puffy's problems, jurors were treated to police detective Terrence Lynch's testimony Wednesday (3/7), which revolved around Myers' account of the incident. According to Lynch, the statement Myers gave police after the shootings bore little resemblance to her testimony on the stand. Lynch said that when he interviewed Myers two hours after the altercation, she told him that she was separated from Combs by as many as 20 people, which fully contradicts Myers' claims that she was standing right next to Combs when the brouhaha began. Lynch presented the police report he filed, detailing his interview with Myers to support his testimony.
Obviously, Puffy's defense attorney's had a field day combating what could be construed as damaging allegations.
No confirmation that Puffy's phone records also revealed several calls to John Gotti, who many believe nearly perfected the art of swaying both witnesses and jurors during his time in the spotlight.
