Puffy Armed, Says Third Victim

Shooting victim Julius Jones became the third witness in the Sean "Puffy" Combs trial to testify that he saw the rap mogul arm himself when he said today, "I am sure he had a gun." The twenty-eight-year-old former Parks Department employee from Brooklyn also said that he saw Jamal "Shyne" Barrow open fire December 27, 1999 at Club New York.

As the trial resumed Wednesday, after a day of recess, Jones said that he was standing at the bar, partying with some friends, when he saw the fight break out between Combs, Barrow and another man. He described the money thrown in the air, "and the next thing I know, [Combs] had a gun in his hand," which he said was a black automatic and held in Combs' right hand. "I turned to my right," he said, "and I saw [Barrow] with a gun." Jones said he was looking right at Barrow, who then shot his gun three times. Jones was shocked to discover that he had been shot in the shoulder, falling to the floor. "I couldn't move," he said.

Under cross-examination by Combs' attorney Johnnie Cochran, Jones admitted he had been drinking that night and had smoked some marijuana, but insisted that he wasn't drunk and his memory wasn't clouded by alcohol or drugs. Barrow's attorney Murray Richman pressed Jones further and got him to admit that he had originally told police that Combs shot him, instead of Barrow. Cochran also tried to cast doubt on Jones' testimony since he filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Combs, Barrow and Club New York.

Also testifying today was the emergency room doctor at St. Clare's Hospital who treated the three gunshot victims. Doctor John Perrotti said when victim Natania Reuben was wheeled into the ER she yelled, "I was shot by Puffy." Perrotti said he never included her statement in her medical record, though. Reuben has been the only witness to testify so far that Combs not only possessed but used a weapon.

The trial resumes Thursday.

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

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