| COURT TV ARTCLE |
| Court TV Host: We're going to be talking about the acquittal just a little while ago of rap music impresario Sean "Puffy" Combs. He was acquitted on all five counts of gun possession and bribery relating to a shooting in a New York nightclub in December 1999. His bodyguard was acquitted also. However, his protege, Jamal Shyne Barrow, was convicted of assault charges and faces up to 25 years in prison. We're going to be talking to Court TV reporter Harriet Ryan about the trial. For her reporting, full coverage and documents, visit www.courttv.com/trials/puffy/. Court TV Host: And here's Harriet now...She's just back from the courthouse. Harriet Ryan: Hey, guys. Court TV Host: What was it like in the courtroom today when the jury delivered its verdicts? Harriet Ryan: It was tense, as you can imagine. At about 6:15 p.m., there was this mad rush into the courtroom. At first, no one seemed to know what was going on, but it turned out that the judge just planned to send the jury to a hotel for the night. He sent them a note saying that, and the court was sort of relaxed: one of the defense attorneys was playing tetris on his palm pilot, people in the gallery were reading newspapers�no big deal. But then the jury sends the judge a note saying, not only do we not want to go to the hotel, but we have a verdict. Everyone was surprised�sure verdicts at 6:30 p.m. on a Friday are common�who wants to spend a weekend deliberating�but this jury had seemed to be moving so slowly. Just yesterday, they asked to leave early because they were so tired and frustrated. Anyhow, when the judge announced that the jury had reached a verdict, Puffy turned in his seat and made eye contact with his mother, Janice, and she blew him kisses. Then it was time for the verdict. big_eddie1999: What was Puffy's reaction after the verdict? Harriet Ryan: He was stunned at first and then started crying. When the not guilty's were announced, he was staring at snapshots of his kids. He had them lined up on the defense table and was sort of bracing himself with his hands and looking at the pictures of his kids. When the last not guilty was announced, Johnnie Cochran and Ben Brafman�his attorneys - bear-hugged him, and his family and friends in the back let out a short cheer before the judge and the 30+ court officers told them to cool it. Harriet Ryan: His reaction: just immense joy and relief. He thanked the jurors as they filed out. One or two made eye contact, but most just seemed to want to get out of there. big_eddie1999: What is the possible sentence for Shyne? ludacris_ai3: What is gonna happen to shyne? ludacris_ai3: How much time do you think Shyne will serve? i_be_that_thong_wearin_hotgirl: How long is Shyne going to jail for? Harriet Ryan: He's going to jail. Could get as little as 5 years and as many as 25. He doesn't have any prior adult convictions. That will work in his favor, but then there's the judge. Judge Solomon is a tough-on-crime guy and Shyne made him angry during the trial by acting disrespectful toward the court. I think Solomon's words were, Stop treating me like a potted plant. April 16th is sentencing. Shyne will be held in jail until then. Before he was taken away, he said goodbye to his mom and had a prayer wtih his attorneys. He was reading�I swear�two Bibles at a time by the end of the trial. stkmtimo: Do you think Puffy got off because he's famous? therose_4: Did you get the impression that this is just another case of a celebrity getting off where the average Joe would not have? Harriet Ryan: He was acquitted because the jury saw reasonable doubt. The jury found reasonable doubt because he was represented by the best attorneys that money can buy�Brafman and Cochran. If he was a non-famous but superrich, say investment banker, he could've afforded Brafman and Cochran. It's my opinion that the verdict has as much to do with the talent of of the defendant. The average Joe would probably have been told by his attorney to take a plea and the prosecutor would probably have been more willing to cut a deal with a nobody. nikkictsm: Do you think Puffy will lose a civil trial by the victims? oExcalibur: What are Puffy's chances of not having to pay out anything to the people who are suing him? Harriet Ryan: Geez, you guys are tough. Well, certainly this is not good news for the plaintiffs in the civil suits, but if you remember a little case from California�People v. Simpson�you'll recall that it is possible to be acquitted and still be found responsible for something in civil court. Puffy's facing more than $1 billion in suits. I'd say the guy with the biggest worries tonight is the chauffeur Wardel Fenderson. He says Puffy and his bodyguard forced him to elude police after the shooting and later tried to bribe him to take the gun rap. Now, the verdict is a clear indication that this jury didn't believe Fenderson's story. He is suing Puffy et al. for $3 million in emotional distress. Will a civil jury believe him if the criminal jury didn't? There is a lower standard of proof in civil cases, but still... blaque_wench: Does Sean still have to go through his civil suit? LadyCoyote_00: Was the case poorly tried? Harriet Ryan: No way. I watch trials for a living, and this one was the best tried I've seen so far. The prosecutor and the defense attorneys were on top of their game as far as being prepared, knowing the law. It kills me that America and the Court TV audience in particular didn't get to see this case televised. There will, of course, be second-guessing of the prosecutor. The outcome for him today was pretty much as bad as it could get. Two of the defendants were acquitted out right, and Shyne got convicted on a lesser charge. justice4one2000: Do you think the prosecution did a good job of presenting the case?. From what I read he bored the jury during closing. Harriet Ryan: His closing was six hours. That's long. Really, really long. The jurors didn't like it. They groaned when he said he was going to�five hours in�take another hour. He said that he didn't realize that he was going to be that long, that he was just trying to go through all the evidence and respond to the defense cases of three defendants. He has a strong personality, and at least one of the jurors�juror #6 for those looking at the jury profiles on our site�seemed to really dislike him. She rolled her eyes during his cross-examination and looked at him like he was insane when she didn't like his questions. Knowing that at least one juror was bored/annoyed with him, it may have been unwise to embark on such a long, long, long (did I mention it was long) closing. And certainly, if you are doing a six-hour closing, quoting 19th century British poets in say hour four, is a bad idea. Still, Matthew Bogdanos is a really impressive attorney and I'm sure everyone learned something from him in the court, even if it was only the word "lacuna" which he used one day. hope74usa: How does the defense explain the phone records of Puffy talking with witnesses who said they didn't know or talk to him? Harriet Ryan: Well, they didn't. In closings, the defense suggested that Combs had been "very active in his own defense" to the point where he may have been calling some of these people to arrange, say, transportation to and from court on the day they testified. Many found this laughable. He had personal assistants, bodyguards and the most doting mother this side of mine. But yet he's out there, making taxi itineraries for the key witnesses in his case? The defense also tried to say that other people sometimes use his cell phone, and maybe they had called the witnesses. |