Sean “Diddy” Combs, the musician and rap mogul being sued by dozens of individuals for alleged intercourse crimes, begins his intercourse trafficking trial immediately (Might 12) in Manhattan’s Federal District Courtroom. Prosecutors will argue that Diddy abused his cash and energy to visitors, drug, and sexually assault girls; the protection claims any encounters had been consensual. Opening statements will begin immediately. If convicted, Diddy may face life in jail.
Diddy, who has been incarcerated since September 2024 resulting from a number of denials of bail, appeared within the court docket final week as Decide Arun Subramanian oversaw jury choice. The ultimate choice was delayed till immediately over fears jurors may get chilly ft over the weekend.
Jury choice started final Monday. Practically 100 potential jurors had been questioned and assessed on their impartiality. Due to the high-profile nature of the case, some familiarity with the allegations in opposition to Diddy—together with the video that confirmed his bodily assault of the singer Casandra Elizabeth “Cassie” Ventura, his former girlfriend, in 2016—didn’t mechanically disqualify potential jurors, The New York Occasions reviews. Many admitted to having seen memes, satire, and hypothesis concerning the case. Those that admitted to bias in opposition to Diddy, unhealthy experiences with regulation enforcement, or, in a single case, problem staying off marijuana for the trial’s period had been excused.
A minimum of three accusers are anticipated to testify, in addition to a few of Diddy’s former sexual companions, a enterprise affiliate, and a number of male intercourse staff, based on CNN. Cassie’s testimony is anticipated to be on the heart of the prosecution case, alongside two or three different girls who could use pseudonyms to guard their identities.
After months of snowballing lawsuits alleging crimes that embrace sexual assault, battery, grooming, and statutory rape, Diddy was arrested in a New York lodge room on September 16, 2024, and indicted by a grand jury on costs of racketeering conspiracy; intercourse trafficking by power, fraud, or coercion; and transportation to interact in prostitution. He pleaded not responsible the next day.
The arrest adopted a raid of his properties in Los Angeles and Miami that March as Homeland Safety Investigations constructed its case. On the time, his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, mentioned his shopper “is an imperfect individual, however he’s not a felony.” Diddy has since employed an eight-person protection workforce together with Brian Metal, the lead protection lawyer in Younger Thug’s Atlanta RICO case, which resulted within the rapper’s launch from jail after pleading responsible to some costs. Final Tuesday, the choose admonished Mark Geragos, who has represented Diddy however is just not a part of his protection workforce, for describing the prosecution as a “six-pack of white girls” on his podcast.
