(AllHipHop News) The second day in the trial of Hip-Hop mogul James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond got underway today, but not without some controversy.
prosecution presented several witnesses to bolster their case against Rosemond, who is accused of running a $10 million-per-year cocaine operation.
Rosemond has pleaded not guilty to the charges and claims he is the victim of a smear campaign, allegedly started in part by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Chuck Philips.
Part of Rosemond’s defense centers around several articles written by Philips, as well as his actions after he was laid off by the Los Angeles Times.
The article claimed Rosemond was behind the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur at Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan.
The Los Angeles Times eventually published a retraction, laid off Philips and paid Rosemond a $250,000 settlement.
Philips then sent documents to associates of Rosemond’s in prison around the country, further repeating the claims that he was a “snitch.”
Today (May 15), the two men finally met face-to-face for the first time in court.
Yesterday (May 14), as Philips was leaving court, he was handed a subpoena to testify in the case, since Rosemond unexpectedly made Philips’ articles a centerpiece of his defense.
After Rosemond attorney Gerald Shargel spotted Philips in the court room today, he called a sidebar and requested the judge to order Phillips to leave the court.
“[Gerald] Shargel used me as a red herring for the jury in his opening argument,” Philps told AllHipHop.com in an exclusive interview. “He subpoenaed me as witness not for my testimony, but so he could keep me out of the courtroom and stop me from covering the trial.”
After Philips identified himself Judge Gleeson politely asked Philips to excuse himself from court.
Philips promptly left, allowing the rest of the testimony in the case to continue for today.