The Associated Press is reporting that four eyewitnesses have come forward to support Gerard Rechnitzer, the man who has accused Sean 'Diddy' Combs of roughing him up outside a New York club last February. Combs, of course, has always denied lashing out at Rechnitzer - the plaintiff claims the hip hop mogul attacked him after his girlfriend knocked back Diddy's advances.
In legal papers filed by Rechnitzer's attorney, one witness, a Marianna Ruiz, says: "I just kind of remember seeing him [Rechnitzer] go flying, not flying as in like feet off the ground, but he went back significantly. I was just in shock that somebody would ... just kind of strike somebody out of nowhere".
Another, a Michael Sherman, says "All of a sudden, he [Diddy] hit him [Rechnitzer]. And there was a taxi behind Gerard. Gerard got knocked into the taxi".
At least some of the witnesses cited in Rechnitzer's legal papers were part of the plaintiff's group on the night, a fact which is sure to be latched onto by Combs' lawyers in a bid to throw doubt onto the testimonies. His reps also filed legal papers last week, again stressing that Combs is "in no way legally responsible for what happened to Rechnitzer".