Sean "Puffy" Combs heard ordinary New Yorkers offer their opinions on his love life, fashion sense, music and some of the more unpleasant aspects of his past in court on Friday, as jury selection continued in his criminal trial.

The hearing also saw prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos accuse employees of a detective agency retained by the defense team of encouraging witnesses in the case to talk to the press, in violation of a gag order imposed in the case. Although witnesses are allowed to speak to the press, the defendants, their lawyers or their employees are not allowed to encourage them.

Lawyers for the defense denied the allegation. "No defense witness, unlike prosecution witnesses, has spoken to the press. If we wanted, based on the information we have, it could be on the front pages of every newspaper in the country," said Combs' lawyer Benjamin Brafman.

Judge Charles Solomon and lawyers for both sides queried prospective jurors individually on whether their exposure to pretrial publicity in the case -- and their knowledge of people involved in it -- would impair their ability to be fair.

Friday's prospects ranged from a young man who said he was a fan of both Combs and his co-defendant, Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, to a few older jurors who said they knew no one in the courtroom, not even Combs' lawyer Johnnie Cochran.

Cochran grinned when the Shyne fan said he believes the media often "fabricate stories." "I like this guy, I like this guy," Cochran said to reporters sitting behind him. Combs, in a navy pin-striped suit and a pink tie with a pink handkerchief, smiled and nodded thanks when a 30-something woman said that her only opinion of him was that he "dresses well." But he stared impassively as another prospect described reading an article that advised Combs' girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, to "dump" Combs before she "ends up in jail." He was similarly poker-faced when jurors referred to his alleged beating of record executive Steven Stoute and other past incidents.

Judge Solomon also ruled on Friday that Shyne's lawyers can cross-examine witnesses about gunpowder residue tests conducted on the rapper. Bogdanos had hoped to exclude such questioning.

The results of the test, which involved collecting possible residue from the defendants' hands with a tapelike substance, have never been analyzed, since New York's police force no longer considers the test valid. Bogdanos has said the detective who administered the test on Combs, Shyne and their co-defendant, bodyguard Anthony "Wolf" Jones, was ordered to do so by a superior who was unfamiliar with the test.

After Monday, lawyers will question jurors on issues beyond publicity, with selection scheduled to be complete by Thursday afternoon.

Opening arguments in the case, which stems from a December 1999 shooting at Manhattan's Club New York, are scheduled for January 26.