Matthew "Scar" Allen, the ex-convict whose argument with Sean "Puffy" Combs allegedly sparked the December 1999 Club New York shootings, won't appear as a witness in Combs' trial unless someone manages to find him, according to Allen's lawyer.
Prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos is scheduled to rest his case on Wednesday (February 21), and Allen — named from the start as a possible prosecution witness — has yet to show up, apparently because he's a fugitive whose whereabouts are unknown. Allen failed to appear for a hearing on an unrelated Brooklyn, N.Y., gun-possession charge in January, and faces a bench warrant there, according to a spokesperson for the King's County District Attorney's office.
"Mr. Allen, as far as I know, is clearly a fugitive. He… has been unavailable," his lawyer, Kenneth Schreiber, said Tuesday. "Unless the district attorney's [office] has their own means of communicating that I don't know about, there's nothing I have to add." Lawyers for Combs and his co-defendants, Jamal "Shyne" Barrow and bodyguard Anthony "Wolf" Jones, have said in court that Allen, not the defendants, should take the blame for instigating the Club New York shootings, which wounded three people. They've suggested that Allen and the people with him at Club New York had guns, and that .40 caliber bullets found at the club could be linked to him or his friends.
Bogdanos engaged in selective prosecution, lawyers have alleged, by going after Combs and company rather than Allen.
But Schreiber said that despite Allen's criminal record — which he declined to detail — his client is not the hardened outlaw that defense lawyers have described.
"My perception of him is quite to the contrary," Schreiber said. "I don't think they know him. I don't think they know very much about him. They have specific interests — their clients are on trial [and] their clients are alleged to have reacted to a situation." Just before the shooting, Allen screamed threats at Combs, and he or one of his associates threw money at the rap impresario, witnesses have testified.
Bogdanos, declined to comment on Allen on Tuesday, citing a gag order imposed in the case. But in court, he's strongly denied engaging in selective prosecution, citing a lengthy investigation in the case. In his opening statement, Bogdanos said the Club New York argument started after Combs knocked over Allen's drink on his way out of the club. At least one witness has suggested, however, that it was Allen who started the argument by refusing to give Combs five.
Schreiber said he never discussed the Club New York incident with Allen, but added that Allen and Bogdanos had met one-on-one at least once to discuss it.
Defense lawyers have hinted that they'd like to call Allen as a witness themselves. But Schreiber said that even if the defense found Allen, they'd be unlikely to call him, since they have no way of knowing what he would say on the stand.
A spokesperson for Combs offered no comment on Allen, citing the gag order, and his lawyer Benjamin Brafman did not return a call for comment on Tuesday.
(Click HERE for a complete explanation of the charges in the case. Click HERE for our complete trial coverage.)
