Lil' Kim Says 'I Am Innocent
| Lil' Kim Says 'I Am Innocent |
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| Written by Robert ID989 |
| Wednesday, 09 March 2005 22:59 |
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Angry over being branded a liar, female rap artist Lil'' Kim publicly proclaimed her innocence yesterday as her lawyers prepared to tell her side to a Manhattan Federal Court jury today at the rapper's perjury trial. "I am innocent. I did not lie or commit perjury," the hip-hop rapper declared in a statement, her first words since going on trial last week. Prosecutors have cited 30 instances in which Lil'' Kim allegedly lied about a wild gunfight outside Manhattan radio station Hot 97 in 2001. They spent 12 hours having her testimony read back so the jury could hear each alleged lie. Lil'' Kim insisted she didn''t lied. "This case is about me not being able to positively identify an unclear photograph and not seeing my former co-manager Damion Butler at the scene," the rapper said. Lil’ Kim called the shooting "a traumatic event that happened almost 2-1/2 years prior to me being questioned." "I am innocent ... and I am confident justice will prevail," she added. Prosecutors Daniel Gitner and Cathy Seibel have accused Lil'' Kim, aka Kimberly Jones, of trying to protect two members of her posse involved in the shooting, Butler and Suif (Gutta) Jackson. Prosecutors completed their presentation of evidence yesterday. Today, it's the rapper's turn, but it remained unclear whether she will take the witness stand in her own defense. "We are presenting a case," was all her lawyer, Mel Sachs, would say. If convicted, the hip-hop rapper could receive a maximum 30 years behind bars.
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