Lil Wayne begins gun trial in New York

After winning the Best Hip Hop Video at the VMAs and putting on an incredible performance, Lil Wayne had to jump on a plane bound for New York to face a gun charge.

Lil' Wayne, 25, real name is Dwayne Carter, faces a felony weapons charge in New York that could send him to jail for 3-1/2 years.

The charge stems from a June 22, 2007 arrest after a performance at Manhattan's Beacon Theater with JaRule.  The arresting officer, Diane Hornung,  testified  "You could see the smoke and smell it as well, you could smell marijuana."  The officer claims the smoke was coming out of Wayne's tour bus and this prompted her to stop and search the vehicle, "for my safety," she said.  The officer said she first found a member of Wayne's entourage flushing marijuana down the toilet and proceeded to find the rapper in his boxers when she entered his private bedroom on the bus.  She then observed him tossing a Louis Vuitton bag containing the weapon to the ground.  

The rapper's lawyer, Stacey Richman, is seeking to have the police search of his tour bus tossed out.   She claims the police had no right to search the bus.  Richman argued that the tour bus, which contains a private bedroom, flat-screen TV and living area, should be considered a second home thereby requiring a search warrant.  

The hearing continues tomorrow in Manhattan Supreme Court. 

Lil Wayne is also facing weapons charges in Arizona cops found a .44-caliber pistol on his bus in January.