The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES Ÿ Snoop Doggy Dogg's bodyguard fired fatal shots from a Jeep only to stop an angry, armed gang member bent on protecting his turf, defense attorneys told jurors yesterday in the rapper's murder trial.
''That shooting is completely consistent with self-defense,'' defense lawyer Donald Re said in opening statements.
The rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, is on trial with bodyguard McKinley Lee in the Aug. 25, 1993, drive-by shooting death of Philip Woldemariam at a park on the city's west side. First testimony was expected later yesterday.
Broadus' attorney, David Kenner, told jurors that Lee shot the 20-year-old Woldemariam because Woldemariam pulled a handgun from his waistband and may even have fired on the Jeep Cherokee that was carrying Lee, Broadus and at least one other person.
Woldemariam wanted ''to let those people know that this was his territory and his area and when they wouldn't bow down to him, he became confrontational, hotheaded, armed himself with a gun, and the events that took place at that park took place,'' said Kenner.