Jury reaches verdict on all but one charge in Sean (Diddy) Combs trial
WARNING: This story contains allegations of sexual violence and may affect those who have experienced it or know someone impacted by it.
The jury in Sean "Diddy" Combs's sex trafficking trial said Tuesday that it has reached a verdict on four of five counts against the hip-hop mogul. But the partial decision remained under wraps as they kept deliberating on the top charge: racketeering conspiracy.
Prosecutors, Combs's defence team and Judge Arun Subramanian reasoned that after just two days of deliberations, it was too soon to give up on reaching a verdict on all counts. So rather than taking a partial verdict, Subramanian told the jury to continue weighing the remaining charge. Deliberations will continue Wednesday.
The developments came late Tuesday afternoon, when the jury sent a note saying it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the racketeering conspiracy charge because there were jurors with "unpersuadable views" on both sides.
After hearing about the note, Combs appeared morose as his lawyers explained to him what was happening. At one point, lead defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo stepped away from the huddle, returned with a piece of paper and handed it to Combs, who read it solemnly. The hip-hop mogul's mother and several of his children returned to the courtroom.
Combs stood with his hands in his pockets as jurors came into the courtroom for the judge's guidance.
"It is your duty as jurors to consult with one another and to deliberate with a view to reaching an agreement," Subramanian told them, recapping an instruction he'd read before deliberations began.
Jurors are weighing charges that Combs used his fame, wealth and violence to force two girlfriends into drug-fuelled sex marathons with male sex workers known as "freak-offs" or "hotel nights."
He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers contend prosecutors are trying to criminalize Combs's swinger lifestyle and that, if anything, his conduct amounted to domestic violence, not federal felonies.
Combs, 55, could face 15 years in prison to life behind bars if he is convicted of all charges.
Racketeering conspiracy — the first count on the jury's verdict sheet — is the most complicated of the charges against Combs because it requires jurors to decide not only whether he ran a "racketeering enterprise" but also whether he was involved in committing some or all of various types of offences, such as kidnapping and arson.
The charge falls under RICO — the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — which is best known for being used in organized crime and drug cartel cases.
During the proceedings in New York City, the jury heard from nearly three-dozen witnesses, including ex-girlfriends, former Combs employees, male escorts and federal agents.
On Tuesday, the panel of eight men and four women asked for the account from former longtime girlfriend Cassie — the R&B singer born Casandra Ventura — that described Combs beating, kicking and dragging her at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, an incident captured in security camera footage.
They also asked to see Cassie's testimony about an incident in which she said Combs accused her of taking drugs from him and kicked her off of their yacht at the Cannes Film Festival in France in 2013. On their way back to the U.S., she testified, he threatened to release explicit videos of her having sex.
In addition, the jury asked for Cassie's and stripper Daniel Phillip's testimony about her jumping into his lap at a New York City hotel after, as Phillip testified, he suspected Combs had been slapping and slamming her around an adjacent room.
"Her whole entire body was shaking, like she was terrified," said Phillip, who was at the hotel for a sexual encounter with Cassie sometime between 2012 and 2014.
Phillip testified that he asked Cassie why she was with Combs if he was hitting her and beating her. He said he told her she was in real danger. Cassie, he said, "basically tried to convince me that it was OK, it's OK. I'm fine, I'll be OK."
Phillip and Cassie were among the first witnesses who testified when the trial began last month.
Combs, as he has through the trial, conferred intently with his lawyers as they discussed responding to the jury's request. Later, he leaned forward to scrutinize something on the computer screen that sits in front of him. At times, he also glanced back at his mother, Janice Combs, who was among the music mogul's family in court on Tuesday.
Outside the courthouse, a handful of Combs supporters held signs with messages like "Free Diddy," while another had a T-shirt reading, "A freako is not a RICO" (RICO refers to the racketeering charge against Combs).
There were also a few livestreamers present — non-legacy media folks who have been consistently going live on social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube from just outside the courthouse to share the most explosive details of the trial.
Prosecutors say Combs for two decades used his fame, fortune and a roster of employees and associates to help him coerce and force two different girlfriends to repeatedly perform sexually with male sex workers for days at a time while he watched and sometimes filmed the drug-fuelled events. Combs is charged with five counts in total.
Defence lawyers contend prosecutors are trying to criminalize Combs's swinger lifestyle. If anything, they say, Combs's conduct amounted to domestic violence, not federal felonies. Combs, 55, could face 15 years to life in prison if convicted on all charges.
Combs chose not to testify as his lawyers built their arguments for acquittal mostly through lengthy cross-examinations of dozens of witnesses called by prosecutors, including some of Combs's former employees, who testified only after being granted immunity.
If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. For support in your area, you can look for crisis lines and local services via the Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada database.
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