Victim Hunted Down, Rapper Jury Told

Rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg and his bodyguard went looking for a rival gang member in a Palms park in August 1993 then gunned him down to “teach him a lesson,” a prosecutor told jurors Monday.

In the first day of closing arguments, prosecutor Ed Nison told the racially diverse jury that the crime was anything but self-defense, as claimed by the rapper’s lawyers.

“All of the evidence points toward one thing and that is those two defendants, Snoop Doggy Dogg, the famous rap star, and the person who was supposedly his bodyguard, McKinley Lee, went to the park for the purpose of harming Philip Woldemariam,” Nison told the panel.

The rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, and Lee have been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit assault in connection with the incident. The two men remain free on bail.

Prosecutors claim Woldemariam, 20, was shot to death Aug. 25, 1993, in Woodbine Park in the Palms area of West Los Angeles after a gang-related dispute with Broadus and Lee. But defense lawyers say Woldemariam was going for a gun in his waistband when Lee fired at him from a Jeep driven by Broadus.

Nison told the jury: “This was a killing motivated not by McKinley Lee’s desire to save a life, but motivated by the desire to take a life.”

The confrontation started outside the rapper’s Palms apartment, where a group of Broadus’ friends had gathered, the prosecutor said.

Woldemariam and two of his friends were driving by when someone in the group threw a gang sign at their car. Woldemariam told the group “F--- you,” Nison said, then Lee came down the stairs with a gun.

“He introduced a firearm” into the conflict, Nison said.

Several people then jumped into Broadus’ Jeep and followed Woldemariam and friends Jason London and Dushaun Joseph, Nison said.

“What Phil was guilty of was having a big mouth and that was it,” the prosecutor said. “Yet that caused them to be chased.”

The Jeep turned off after a few blocks, but it was seen again in an alley near the park, Nison said. A man--who one witness has identified as Lee--got out with a gun and walked slowly down the alley. He then turned around, got back into the Jeep and drove off.

A short time later, the shooting occurred.

Nison told jurors that the alley incident shows that Broadus and Lee were looking for Woldemariam--and intended to harm him.

“If you find McKinley Lee was in the alley with a gun, there was no self-defense,” Nison said. “If that was the intent of going to the park, there is no claim of self-defense.”

At the park, Woldemariam told Broadus and Lee, “I’m not trying to cause you any trouble; I’m not trying to sweat you all, I’m just trying to let you know where you’re at,” Nison said.

But the defendants “couldn’t just let it drop,” Nison said. “They had to show Phil, ‘Don’t mess with us. We’ll go show you who the punk is.’ ”

Confident that the prosecution had failed to prove its case, defense attorneys presented only one witness, and did not call either defendant to testify.

Nison attempted to capitalize on the defense’s decision, arguing to the jury that no one testified to back up Lee’s claim that he acted in self-defense.

“No credible evidence has been presented to you to allow you to believe from the facts that McKinley Lee believed Philip Woldemariam had a gun,” he said.

Nison added: “The evidence is clear who the aggressor is.”

Broadus--dressed in a three-piece pinstriped suit and cowboy boots-- cuddled with his toddler son in the hallway during breaks in Nison’s argument. His attorneys are expected to address the jurors today.