'Puffy' Trial to Jury Tuesday

By Stephen M. Silverman

05/04/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

In reportedly heated exchanges over the wording of legal instructions to jury members on Thursday, defense lawyers in the gun possession and bribery trial of rap entrepreneur Sean "Puffy" Combs, 31, fought hard to keep their clients' name clean while they also attempted to besmirch prosecution witnesses, reports the New York Post. On Tuesday, jurors are expected to begin deliberating in the case, which stems from a Dec. 27, 1999, Times Square nightclub shooting. New York State Supreme Court Judge Charles H. Solomon may end up reminding jurors that Combs claimed on the stand that he never knew that his co-defendant Anthony "Wolf" Jones, 34, served state prison time for a felony conviction. The Post reports that this could be a claim that jurors could use to weigh Combs's credibility. Other things that Judge Solomon may or may not remind the jury of is that four of the major witnesses against Combs have filed multi-million-dollar lawsuits against him.