'Puffy' Trial: The PEOPLE Report

By Stephen M. Silverman

Thursday April 30, 1998 12:00 AM EDT

After two hours of instructions from Judge Charles H. Solomon, jurors started deliberations Wednesday in trial of rap mogul Sean "Puffy" Combs, 31. During six hours' worth of closing arguments on Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos told the jurors he didn't call Combs's former girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, as a witness in the case because he feared the singer-actress would color her testimony in Combs's favor, reports the Associated Press. As it is, Bogdanos railed against celebrity in his closing arguments, especially the celebrity of Combs, reports PEOPLE. "There is a current that runs through this courtroom, and the current is celebrity," Bogdanos said in the courtroom. "Let me talk about power or, more appropriately in this case, the arrogance of power." He said that everyone in the world recognizes Combs. "Power corrupts," said Bogdanos, "and absolute power corrupts absolutely. When you've been rich and famous for so long, you begin to believe you are above the law. You believe the law doesn't apply to you." Combs has been on trial in New York State Supreme Court for the past seven weeks, accused of bribery and gun possession after a 1999 shooting in a Times Square nightspot. Combs's protege and co-defendant, Jamaal "Shyne" Barrow, was charged with shooting three people in the club. Combs' bodyguard, Anthony "Wolf" Jones, faces the same possession and bribery charges as Combs, who, if convicted, faces up to 15 years in prison.