Final Victim Says Puffy Had a Gun
Feb. 8, 2001 -- A doctor testified Wednesday that a woman whowas wounded in a nightclub shooting that involved Sean "Puffy"Combs told him in a hospital emergency room that the rap impresariohad shot her.
Dr. John A. Perrotti said he was on duty in the St. Clare'sHospital emergency room on Dec. 27, 1999, when Natania Reuben wasbrought in between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. with a gunshot wound tothe face.
"She was somewhat upset and excited," Perrotti replied to aquestion by Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos. "She wasvery anxious; she was very nervous; she was speaking out loud; shewas in some pain."
"Do you remember what she said?" the prosecutor asked. The physician testified that Reuben said she had been shotinside a nightclub, and that she told him, "I was shot by Puffy."Perrotti said Reuben "just blurted it out."
Testimony Contested
Reuben testified Monday that just before a bullet hit her like"a flaming hot sledgehammer," she saw Combs and his rap protegeJamal "Shyne" Barrow fire guns during an altercation at Club NewYork. But she also testified that she did not know who had shother.
Combs, 31, Barrow, 21, and Anthony Jones, 34, the rap mogul'sdriver, are on trial in Manhattan's State Supreme Court inconnection with the shooting.
Combs and Jones are charged with gun possession and bribery andface up to 15 years in prison if convicted. Barrow is charged withattempted murder and faces up to 25 years in prison on each ofthree counts.
Combs' lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, asked State Supreme CourtJustice Charles Solomon to strike Perrotti's testimony about thealleged comment.
Brafman complained that the statement was material to be usedagainst Combs at trial, but Bogdanos had not given it to him as thelaw requires.
Brafman also complained that the statement was hearsay, anunsworn out-of-court remark about which he is unable tocross-examine Reuben.
The judge said he will decide later whether to let the testimonystand as "an excited utterance" on which the speaker had no timeto reflect.
Perrotti said in later testimony that Reuben's remark was notreported in any medical documents because "it's totally irrelevantto a medical record."
Third Victim: Says He Saw Puffy With Gun
Julius Jones, 28, of Brooklyn, was the next witness. He said heheard a man say several times that he would kill Combs and othersin his group while yelling hostile invective in their direction.
The third of the three nightclub shooting victims to testify andone of two that Perrotti examined, Jones also said he saw Barrowfire the bullet that entered his right shoulder during the dispute.
Jones said in his profanity-spiced account that he saw Combs'entourage moving through the jam-packed club and greeting people.Then a man called "Scar" refused to shake Combs' hand, he said.
"He pulled his hand back," the witness said. "Then peoplestarted pushing and shoving. Puffy Combs looked shocked" whileScar yelled obscenities, telling him, in effect, that he wasnothing special.
Soon afterward, Jones said, a man standing next to Scar threw"a wad of cash" at Combs. When he looked again, Jones said, hesaw a black automatic pistol in the hip-hop honcho's hand.
The witness said he turned to run and "I saw Shyne Barrow witha gun."
"Shots came out of the gun," Jones said. "I saw fire. Idropped. I heard like three shots." The witness said peoplesurrounded him while he lay on the floor so that he wouldn't gettrampled.
Bogdanos asked what else Jones remembered: "I just rememberthat I saw my shooter and I saw another man with a gun."
Jones, suing the defendants for $700 million, said he didn'tcare about the money. He said he sued because he wanted somebody tobe held responsible for his injuries.