Lil’ Kim faces the jury

The federal court perjury trial of the rapper Lil’ Kim (Kimberly Jones) in connection with the February 2001 shooting in front of 395 Hudson St., where the radio station Hot 97 is located, went to the jury on Tues. March 15.

The case involves Lil’ Kim’s grand jury testimony that she did not know two suspects involved in the 2001 shooting who subsequently pleaded guilty and are serving jail terms.

The shooting between the entourages of Lil’ Kim and her Hip Hop rival, Foxy Brown, broke out on the sidewalk in front of the building between Houston and Clarkson Sts.

The perjury trial began March 1 and ended two weeks later after closing arguments by the prosecutor, U.S. Assistant Attorney Cathy Seible and Kim’s lawyer, Mel Sachs. The jury of seven men and five women began deliberations on Tuesday afternoon and had not reached a verdict by the Downtown Express press deadline on Wed. Mach 16.

The District Council of Carpenters Pension Fund, which owns 395 Hudson St., sent a March 4 letter to Emmis Broadcasting, owner of the station, in the wake of another shooting this year on Feb. 28 between the posses of two rival rappers, 50 Cent and The Game, in which an autograph seeker was injured.

The union demanded that the station allow only one person to accompany a Hip Hop performer to the station. The union also wants Hot 97 to furnish a notice a week in advance of who is to appear on the station in order to alert police and hire extra security. The union also demands the right to bar from the building anyone it believes “poses a
risk of danger, damage, injury or disruption.”

Alex Dudley a spokesperson for the station, said, “We’re in constant contact with our landlord to reach a mutually acceptable resolution, but it’s important to remember that there has been no incident inside the building.”

A lawyer for the union, however, said employees of other tenants in 395 Hudson St. have complained that visitors to the station have harassed them inside the building.

— Albert Amateau