“I was really shook up by it,” James told jurors in the Manhattan federal courtroom. “It was the first time being Mr. Combs’ assistant where I realized my life was in danger.”
The bloody feud between Knight’s Death Row Records and Combs’ Bad Boy Records in the mid-1990s had led to tragic drive-by shooting murders of hip-hop icons Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.
Federal prosecutors hope that James’ testimony shows that Combs — who after the murders meticulously crafted a public image as a good-natured music mogul — led a criminal enterprise where violence could erupt at any point.
James testified that the violent East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry between Combs and Knight nearly rekindled one night in mid-November 2008.
He told jurors that he encountered Suge Knight while picking up food with Combs’ security guard D-Roc at Mel’s drive-in diner in Los Angeles.
“That’s motherf–king Suge Knight,” James recalled D-Roc telling him.
D-Roc told Knight — whose real name is Marion Knight Jr. — he was “Diddy’s boy.”
“What are you doing in my city?” the fearsome Knight responded, James testified.
“S–t, man, just out here getting money,” James said D-Roc responded.
Then four SUVs pulled into the parking lot and someone handed Knight a gun, James told the jurors.
D-Roc and James went back to Combs’ place, got in his Escalade armed with three guns and headed back to the diner, driving in eerie silence, James said.
“Mr. Combs had three handguns on his lap,” James said.
But when they arrived, Knight and his crew were no longer there.
“Mr. Combs had three handguns on his lap,” James said.
James said the incident prompted him to give his six months’ notice, to allow for someone else to get trained.
He left the company by 2009.
Combs’ defense attorney Marc Agnifilo peppered James with more questions about the alleged near-hit on Knight.
As the cross-examination continued, Combs sat with his hands clasped in his lap, while his eyes followed Agnifilo’s and James’ back-and-forth as if he were watching tennis match.
“Was this is a radical departure in your job responsibilities?” Agnifilo asked about the silent, gun-toting ride to confront Knight.
“That is the understatement of the day so far,” James said.