The ultimate stage of jury choice for the sex-trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs was postponed till early subsequent week forward of the opening arguments over considerations that some jurors may get “chilly ft” earlier than the high-profile case begins.
Prosecutors allege that Diddy, 55, used his fame and energy on the prime of the hip-hop world to sexually abuse ladies from 2004 to 2024. He pleaded not responsible after his September arrest and has remained held with out bail at a federal lockup in Brooklyn.
Decide Arun Subramanian granted the defence legal professionals’ request to delay the final step in jury choice till Monday, Could 12, when either side will slim down the pool of 45 potential jurors to 12 and 6 alternates.
Subramanian expressed concern that if jurors had been chosen earlier than the weekend, they might develop anxious and drop off the panel earlier than the trial begins Monday.
The choice got here after a possible juror despatched an e-mail to ask the courtroom to be left off the panel for “points of non-public well-being,” the defence revealed.
The defence mentioned placing potential jurors might take as little as 10 to fifteen minutes, so why not do it on Monday when they are going to be current. The jurors weren’t required to be within the Manhattan courtroom on Friday, however Diddy was there.
Prosecutors objected, saying the entire course of might get obstructed if a number of jurors panic after being chosen and resolve they don’t need to participate in a high-profile trial that’s anticipated to final two months.
Potential jurors had been requested questions earlier this week to assist the choose and legal professionals decide in the event that they might be truthful and neutral. They had been additionally questioned to make sure they might resolve the case on the information — even after seeing specific movies of sexual exercise that some may discover disturbing.
On Could 12, prosecutors shall be permitted to strike six potential jurors from the jury whereas defence legal professionals are allowed 10 strikes earlier than the jury is finalized. The method is anticipated to take as much as an hour.
Diddy’s lead lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, instructed Subramanian Friday that Diddy dedicated “home violence” in his relationship with one of many accusers that’s anticipated to testify on the trial, in line with NBC Information.
Marc Agnifilo, legal professional for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, speaks to members of media outdoors courtroom in New York, US, on Tuesday, Sep. 17, 2024.
Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg through Getty Pictures
Agnifilo mentioned the defence group plans to “take the place that there was mutual violence” in Diddy’s relationship with an accuser recognized within the indictment as “Sufferer-1.”
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Diddy’s lawyer mentioned his group plans to argue that “there was hitting on either side, behaviour on either side” that constituted violence, in line with the outlet.
“It’s related when it comes to the coercive elements, we’re admitting home violence,” Agnifilo instructed the choose.
Prosecutors additionally revealed Friday that they haven’t managed to get in contact with the accuser recognized as Sufferer-3 of their indictment, or her lawyer.
Assistant U.S. Legal professional Maurene Comey mentioned her group can have a “last reply” quickly on whether or not they are going to name Sufferer-3 to the stand.
Diddy faces an indictment that features descriptions of “Freak Offs,” that are outlined within the courtroom doc as “elaborate and produced intercourse performances that Combs organized, directed, masturbated throughout, and infrequently electronically recorded.”
Quite a few witnesses have come ahead to accuse Diddy of terrorizing individuals into silence by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging them, in line with prosecutors. One indictment alleges that Diddy dangled somebody from a balcony.
Though dozens of women and men have alleged in lawsuits that Diddy abused them, this trial will spotlight the claims of 4 ladies.
One in every of them is Diddy’s former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie Ventura, whom the rapper was caught on digital camera beating and dragging down a Los Angeles lodge hallway in 2016.
After CNN aired the video final yr, Diddy apologized, saying, “I take full duty for my actions in that video. I used to be disgusted then after I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
Ventura filed a lawsuit in late 2023 saying Diddy had subjected her to years of abuse, together with beatings and rape after they met in 2005.
Her lawsuit, which supplied the primary public account of the “Freak Offs” described within the indictment, was settled in a day. 4 months later, federal investigators raided Diddy’s properties in Los Angeles and Miami and confronted him at a non-public airport in Florida, seizing 96 digital gadgets. In addition they discovered three AR-15-style rifles with defaced serial numbers.
Diddy was indicted final September. He has been held in a federal jail in Brooklyn after judges dominated that he can be a risk to intimidate witnesses and victims if launched.
The 17-page indictment in opposition to Diddy accuses him of utilizing workers to facilitate his crimes by acts that included kidnapping, arson and bribery.
Diddy is charged with racketeering conspiracy, two expenses of intercourse trafficking and two expenses of transportation to have interaction in prostitution. If he’s convicted on all counts, he has the potential to stay behind bars for all times.
Diddy has continued to disclaim all the expenses the federal government has introduced in opposition to him after his September 2024 arrest.
— With recordsdata from The Related Press
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