NEW YORK — Facing 15 years in prison and the demise of the business empire he built, Sean "Puffy" Combs took the stand in his own defense Thursday and repeatedly denied gun possession and bribery charges.

The 31-year-old maintained that he was an unarmed bystander in the 1999 nightclub shooting and that he never offered his chauffeur, a key prosecution witness, $50,000 nor a platinum pinkie ring to take the gun rap.

"I did not promise him anything and I did not offer him a ring of any kind," Combs said.

The prosecutor grilled him for more than three hours, suggesting his testimony was rehearsed and false, but Combs never wavered in his account. When he stepped down from the stand late Thursday, he seemed exhausted but pleased with his performance as a witness. He exchanged emotional bear hugs with his lawyers, Johnnie Cochran and benjamin Brafman, and stopped in the hall outside the court to shake hands with supporters and accept a bouquet of red roses.

The defense team was so confident Combs had gotten through to the jury that they declined to question him further after the long cross-examination and immediately rested their case. Combs' lawyers had toyed with the idea of calling his companion at the nightclub, former girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, to the stand Friday, but it now appears she will not testify at the trial at all.

Combs, a master of the public appearance, was clearly eager to testify. When Judge Charles Solomon asked the defense for its next witness Thursday morning, Combs, dressed in a conservative navy blue suit, stood up quickly and began walking toward the witness stand before Brafman could even finish the sentence, "Mr. Combs would like to testify."

While his plan to take the stand was widely reported, the jury is prohibited from watching news reports, and some on the panel appeared surprised. The jury forewoman raised an eyebrow and smiled to herself as Combs' name was announced.

As his mother and supporters including rapper Heavy D looked on, the music mogul identified himself to jurors, who have watched his case unfold for five weeks, as "Sean John Combs." He appeared nervous at first, prompting Solomon to observe, "You don't look too comfortable up there" and to suggest he get closer to the microphone. Within a few minutes, however, Combs seemed at ease, plucking the microphone from its stand so he could move easily while pointing to a court exhibit.

Jurors paid close attention as he described his meteoric rise from his Harlem boyhood to his current position as CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment. As he answered softball questions about his upbringing and career pitched by his own attorney, the self-made man made it clear that he was in charge even on the witness stand.

When Brafman asked a seemingly innocuous question — the origin of the nickname "Puffy" — Combs shot back, "Do I have to answer that? It's a nickname. I don't want to go into details."

And Combs, who is worth an estimated $400 million, similarly declined to call himself "successful."

"I've been blessed. I wouldn't want to measure it on wealth. I'll just say, I've been blessed," he said.

Combs was clearly prepared for most of the questions. Prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos got him to admit that he has reviewed his grand jury testimony three times and spent five hours over the past two days practicing his testimony with his defense team. Combs, who squirted Visine in his eyes before court began, acknowledged he was at his lawyer's office until late Wednesday night prepping.

But he refused to concede Bogdanos' suggestion that he was as rehearsed as a recording artist before taping. He told jurors that on Dec. 27, 1999, he and Lopez left his Hamptons mansion to attend a hip-hop party at Club New York, a disco near Times Square. Combs' driver, Wardel Fenderson, testified that, before leaving for the club, Combs had climbed into the back of his custom SUV and fumbled with a gun before securing it in his waistband. Combs denied that, saying he had never seen Fenderson nor been in the SUV that night before going to the club.

Jurors have heard Club New York described as a scene of "carnage" and "mass destruction," but Combs took pains to describe it as a "festive, positive" place. He told the jury, which includes seven black members, several times that the club is popular with the artists and executives from the black music industry. He recounted drinking champagne and dancing on a table in the VIP section of the club.

"I was just trying to feel the vibe of the people," he said. Several witnesses have testified that they saw his waistband at that time, and observed no weapon.

Just before 3 a.m., he said, he and Lopez decided to leave, and bodyguard Anthony "Wolf" Jones, who was off-duty, agreed to help them exit the crowded club. Both prosecution and defense witnesses have described a fracas breaking out as Combs' entourage pushed through the crowd. Many witnesses have testified that Combs' group squared off with a patron named Matthew "Scar" Allen. Profanities were exchanged, a wad of money was thrown, and gunfire ultimately erupted.

Combs, however, said he saw almost nothing of the fight. He testified that he was about halfway to the exit with Lopez trailing him when he noticed a man he believes was Allen "mouthing off."

"I could tell by his body language and facial expressions it wasn't good," he said. He testified that he stopped and asked Jones what the problem was. Other witnesses have described Combs himself "mouthing off" to Allen and a staredown ensuing between the two sides, but Combs denied that.

He said he watched the man for less than a minute and then, at the suggestion of a female bouncer, turned to leave. At that point, he said, he heard shots from behind him.

He said he was "deathly startled" and covered his face at the sound of the first shot, and by the second, someone had knocked him down and he was falling to the floor. Other people, including Jones, fell on top of him.

At that time, he said, he never saw a gun nor his protege, rapper Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, who is accused of pumping bullets into the crowd.

Moments later, he said, Jones pulled him from the floor and pushed him toward the exit.

Prosecutor Bogdanos pressed him on the inconsistencies between his testimony and that of other witnesses, but Combs shook off his questions, saying "I cannot tell you what other people's perceptions were ... I can only testify what I saw."

His account of fleeing the club was also at odds with that of other witnesses. Chauffeur Fenderson, who cut a deal with the prosecution to testify against Combs, told jurors that, following the shooting, Lopez, Jones and Combs jumped into his Lincoln Navigator in a state of hysteria. The driver said Lopez exclaimed that Barrow had "busted off" in the club, meaning fired shots, and Combs and Jones order him to flee the scene, eluding police. As police chased them, Fenderson testified, Combs and Jones were trying to open the SUV's secret compartments to hide something.

Combs' account was entirely different. He said the driver bolted from the curb without any prompting.

"I didn't know where [the SUV] was going. I just knew it was getting out of there," he testified.

"Did you ever order him not to stop the car or to drive?" Brafman asked.

"No," Combs said.

He said that during the chase, which lasted about a minute, he did not remember Lopez talking at all and he described himself as too concerned about her to say anything.

"I was looking at Jennifer. I was still in shock," he said. He also denied ever opening his window. The prosecution contends he flung a second gun from the SUV.

When the Navigator was finally pulled over, police found a 9mm semiautomatic under the passenger seat.

"Did you know that night that there was a gun inside the Navigator?" Brafman asked.

"Absolutely not," Combs replied.

He said the arresting officers told him "that if I did not find out whose gun it was we would all be arrested, including Jennifer." That, he said, put him on the hunt.

"I was definitely going to try to find out whose gun it was," he said. "As soon as I walked in [to the police station], I asked [Jones and Fenderson] 'Do you know whose gun this is,'" he said. Jones and Fenderson shook their heads no.

Fenderson told jurors that it was then that Combs began pressuring him to "take the gun" in exchange for money. The driver said the bribery attempt continued in the holding cell, with Combs offering a platinum pinkie ring as collateral.

But Combs testified that, by that time, he was focused on finding a lawyer and comforting Lopez. He called lawyer after lawyer, he said, only to find that they were unavailable during the holiday season.

"It seemed like every lawyer in the world was in St. Maartens or something," he said. "There were no lawyers in the state of New York."

He was also trying to pacify Lopez, who was handcuffed to a bench six feet away.

"She was almost in shock. She could not believe this," he said.

"It's going to be alright," he recalled telling her. He said he even begged officers to loosen her cuffs.

Fenderson told jurors that he took the bribe and confessed twice to the gun, before thinking better of it and recanting. But Combs said he never knew the driver was talking to officers.

He admitted calling Fenderson in the days following his arrest, but not to bribe him. He was trying to encourage him to cooperate with his own attorney, he said.

"You took it upon yourself to tell Mr. Fenderson what he should do with his own lawyer?" scoffed Bogdanos.

"I just wanted to get to the bottom of the situation," said Combs.

He also professed good motives when he left a voice mail message for Fenderson saying he wanted to make the driver's family "comfortable." The prosecution says it was a bribe attempt, but Combs said he was "being supportive" after Fenderson told him that he had lost his day job.

"He was distraught and devastated ... He said he didn't know how his was going to feed his family," said Combs.

The defense has attacked Fenderson as a "simple man with a simple plan" — to get rich by accusing Combs and profiting from a $3 million civil suit. The final questions Brafman posed to his client underscored the contention that Fenderson and other prosecution witnesses testified to advance their civil suits, which Combs said total "a billion dollars and change."

"A billion with a 'b'?" Brafman asked.

"A billion, like a thousand million dollars," Combs said.

"What is the status of these suits?" Brafman asked.

"They are all waiting for the outcome of this trial," he said.

Barrow's lawyer will begin putting on his case Friday. Next week, Allen, the man who instigated the fight, is expected to take the stand for the prosecution. He has told investigators that Combs fired a gun in the club and later tried to bribe him and his family not to testify.