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Witness says he saw Combs with a gun

Combs is charged with gun possession and bribery

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A prosecution witness testified in Manhattan Supreme Court Wednesday that he saw rapper/music producer Sean "Puffy" Combs with a gun at the time of an early morning shooting inside a Manhattan night club in December 1999.

"He had a gun in his hand -- his right hand," said Julius Jones, 28, of Brooklyn.

Jones also said he had been shot in the right shoulder the morning of December 27, 1999 at Club New York by Jamaal "Shyne" Barrow.

"I just thought I was going to be paralyzed. I didn't know if I was going to come out the same," Jones said.

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Combs faces gun possession and bribery charges, but is not accused of the shooting that wounded three people at Club New York. His bodyguard, Anthony Jones, is charged with illegal gun possession and bribery, and Barrow, who is also a rapper, is charged with attempted murder stemming from the incident.

Jones also testified that he saw the altercation that apparently sparked the chain of events. He said he saw a man throw a wad of cash at Combs and say, "F--- you. I'm gonna see you. I'm going to kill you." He said that's when a melee ensued in the club -- a loud argument with pushing and shoving.

Prosecutors say Combs fired the gun toward the ceiling inside, threw the 9mm semiautomatic pistol into the street, then ordered his driver to take him from the scene to elude police.

Then, prosecutors said, Combs began "a relentless, unremitting barrage" of pressure on his driver, Wardel Fenderson, to claim possession of another gun found by police inside the Lincoln Navigator that Combs and his girlfriend, actress and singer Jennifer Lopez, used to flee the nightclub. That pressure allegedly included bribery offers.

The 9mm pistol dropped in the street was later recovered by police.

Earlier Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos called emergency room Dr. John Perrotti to the stand.

Perrotti testified he treated Natanya Reuben the morning of December 27, 1999. Perrotti said that while treating Reuben, he heard her say, "I was shot by Puffy."

Reuben testified earlier in the week that she had been shot in the face by Combs.

Opening statements begin in Sean 'Puffy' Combs trial
January 29, 2001

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Jennifer Lopez
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