LATEST: A key witness in the SEAN 'PUFFY' COMBS trial is on the run.

Prosecutors believe testimony from MATTHEW ALLEN could send the hip hop mogul to jail. They have spent the past few weeks trying to find him. His altercation with Puffy at a New York nightclub is believed to have started off the shoot-out that led to the rapper's arrest. But Mr Allen's lawyer KENNETH SCHREIBER says his client failed to appear in a Brooklyn court in January (01) on an unrelated matter and has not been seen since.

The main prosecuting lawyer MATTHEW BOGDANOS has said he might have a surprise witness as he wraps up his case against Puffy, his bodyguard ANTHONY 'WOLF' JONES and Puffy's protege JAMAAL 'SHYNE' BARROW. Mr Bogdanos has refused to discuss the mystery witness, but Mr Schreiber says he knows Mr Bogdanos hopes to call Mr Allen. Mr Allen is considered a valuable prosecution witness because he was standing only a foot or two away from Puffy when the fight broke out in the New York nightclub in December 1999. (RP/WNWCAN/KW)

Source: WENN