Puffy Trial: The PEOPLE Report

By Caitlin O'toole

05/22/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

The heart of Friday's testimony in the Sean "Puffy" Combs trial had a real ring to it -- a large diamond pinkie ring that prosecutors allege Combs used to try and bribe his driver, reports PEOPLE. Officer William Meyer testified that Combs was wearing the ring -- a birthday present from girlfriend Jennifer Lopez -- on his hand the night he was arrested. In the court room, Combs, dressed in gray, shook his head as if in disgust and said to one of his attorneys, Benjamin Brafman, "How'd he remember that?" Prosecutors have charged that Combs offered his driver, Wardell Fenderson, the diamond pinkie ring as collateral for a $50,000 cash bribe if the driver would claim responsibility for the gun police found in the SUV after the shooting at Club New York in December 1999. Later, detective Sergio Gennari, a police ballistic expert, testified that bullets recovered from inside the Times Square nightclub matched the 9 mm luger recovered from the waistband of Combs's co-defendant and protege, Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, 22. Barrow faces three counts of attempted murder. Combs is charged with illegal possession of a handgun and bribery. He could receive up to 15 years in prison if convicted. Combs's bodyguard, Anthony "Wolf" Jones, is also being tried on a gun possession charge.

For more on the Combs trial, click here