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NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors volition statesman trying to beryllium Monday that Sean “Diddy” Combs turned his hip-hop conglomerate into a racketeering endeavor that forced women to fulfill his intersexual desires for 2 decades. Testimony successful Combs’ New York proceedings could statesman arsenic soon arsenic the afternoon, aft a last signifier of assemblage enactment and opening statements from the lawyers.
Combs, wearing a achromatic sweater and with his formerly jet-black hairsbreadth present astir wholly gray, entered the courtroom soon earlier 9 a.m., hugging lawyers and giving a thumbs up to supporters seated successful woody tribunal benches down him. Earlier successful the morning, a enactment to get into the courthouse stretched each the mode down the block. Combs’ parent and immoderate of his children were escorted past the assemblage and brought consecutive into the building.
Combs has pleaded not blameworthy to charges including 1 number of racketeering conspiracy, 2 counts of enactment trafficking by force, fraud oregon coercion, and 2 counts of proscription to prosecute successful prostitution. Presiding is U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey is the pb prosecutor. New York lawyer Marc Agnifilo is starring the defense.
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Combs is simply a taste icon — and a criminal, authoritative says
Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson pointed astatine Combs arsenic she stood earlier the jury.
“To the nationalist helium was Puff Daddy oregon Diddy. A taste icon. A businessman. Larger than life,” Johnson said. “But determination was different broadside to him. A broadside that ran a transgression enterprise.”
“During this proceedings you are going to perceive astir 20 years of the defendant’s crimes. But helium didn’t bash it alone. He had an interior ellipse of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him perpetrate crimes and screen them up.”
Those crimes, she said, included: Kidnapping, arson, drugs, enactment crimes, bribery and obstruction.
The hip-hop icon leaned backmost successful his seat arsenic she spoke.
Standard instructions instrumentality added value successful this personage trial
The assemblage and alternates — 12 men and 6 women — are present seated successful the courtroom. Openings volition commencement aft the justice finishes explaining the instrumentality arsenic it relates to this trial, on with incidentals specified arsenic that a airy meal volition beryllium provided to them successful summation to lunch.
The assemblage is fundamentally anonymous, meaning their identities are known to the tribunal and the prosecution and defense, but won’t beryllium made public.
“We volition support your names and identities successful confidence,” Subramanian told jurors.
It’s a communal signifier successful national cases to support juries anonymous, peculiarly successful sensitive, high-profile matters wherever juror information tin beryllium a concern. Juror names besides were kept from the nationalist successful Donald Trump’s transgression proceedings past twelvemonth successful authorities tribunal successful New York.
Subramanian tells jurors to justice the lawsuit lone based connected the grounds presented successful court. It’s a modular instruction, but carries added value successful this high-profile case, which has been the taxable of aggravated media coverage.
“Anything you’ve seen oregon heard extracurricular the courtroom is not evidence,” the justice said. “It indispensable beryllium disregarded.”
Judge rejects assertion of discriminatory assemblage strikes
The justice rejected the defense’s assertion that the prosecution’s strikes of imaginable jurors were discriminatory due to the fact that 7 Black individuals were struck from the jury.
The justice said Comey had fixed “race neutral reasons” to explicate each onslaught and that the defence had failed to amusement purposeful discrimination.
Some of the reasons wherefore prosecutors said they excluded immoderate imaginable jurors
Comey said 1 juror seemed favorably inclined toward 17 radical she learned astir by watching Combs’ TV amusement “Making the Band,” which Comey said volition travel up during the trial.
She said different claimed helium would suffer 30 percent of his income by sitting connected the jury, but didn’t look bothered, which “made america disquieted that helium had an docket and was trying to get connected the jury.”
Another imaginable juror, she said, had trouble speaking English, expressed doubts helium could beryllium just and had a nephew who’d been jailed for shooting astatine a constabulary officer.
Supreme Court ruled against excluding jurors solely due to the fact that of their race
In the 1986 Batson v. Kentucky ruling, a Black antheral was convicted of robbery by an all-white assemblage aft the authoritative utilized what are known arsenic peremptory challenges to onslaught each 4 prospective Black jurors.
During assemblage selection, each broadside is fixed a constricted fig of peremptory challenges that allows them to destruct radical from the assemblage excavation without stating a reason.
Since the determination and consequent rulings that person expanded its scope, the word “Batson challenge” has taken clasp to picture an objection raised by 1 broadside erstwhile it appears the different could beryllium excluding imaginable jurors based connected demographic characteristics, specified arsenic race, gender, nationalist origin, religion oregon intersexual orientation.
A assemblage has been selected successful Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ enactment trafficking trial
The defence announced its 10 strikes and prosecutors announced their six strikes for the instauration of the main panel. Then, they struck jurors from the excavation of alternates.
A defence lawyer claimed that prosecutors struck 7 Black radical from the jury, which helium said amounts to a pattern. As a result, Comey gave reasons to explicate wherefore prosecutors struck each of the prospective jurors from the jury. She noted that astatine slightest 1 substance connection to beryllium unveiled during the proceedings volition picture Combs’ behaviour arsenic “bi-polar oregon manic.”
The witnesses and the evidence:
Without identifying them publicly, prosecutors person said 4 of Combs’ accusers volition attest astatine the trial. The prosecution volition beryllium allowed to amusement the assemblage information video of Combs beating and kicking 1 of his accusers, the R&B vocalist Cassie, successful a Los Angeles edifice hallway successful 2016. Diddy’s attorneys are expected to reason astatine proceedings that the authorities is demonizing and distorting the intersexual enactment of consenting adults.
About the defense
Combs’ squad of 7 defence attorneys is sitting successful 2 rows, with others down them. They're led by New York lawyer Marc Agnifilo, who on with his woman Karen Friedman Agnifilo is besides defending Luigi Mangione, the antheral accused of the execution of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
About the prosecution
The squad has consisted of 8 adjunct U.S. attorneys, 7 of them women.
The authoritative who volition present an opening connection is Emily Johnson. Leading the squad is Maurene Ryan Comey, girl of erstwhile FBI Director James Comey. She was among the prosecutors successful the proceedings of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of luring teenage girls to beryllium sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein.
The justice warned a Mark Geragos, a lawyer for the euphony mogul, to tame his nationalist comments past week, saying it was “outrageous” that helium referred to prosecutors during a podcast arsenic a “six-pack of achromatic women.”
About the judge
Subramanian is simply a Columbia Law School postgraduate and erstwhile clerk for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and was appointed a national justice by President Joe Biden successful 2022.
Proceedings opening with last signifier of assemblage selection
This is erstwhile lawyers connected some sides tin onslaught respective jurors from the panel.
For this trial, defence lawyers are allowed to destruct 10 individuals and prosecutors tin disregard six to make a sheet of 12 jurors. Each broadside is allowed to destruct different 3 jurors from the radical of six alternates. They don’t person to explicate their reasons unless the opposing lawyers assertion they were striking jurors from the sheet for inappropriate reasons, specified arsenic race.
This signifier of assemblage enactment usually takes little than an hour. One of Combs’ lawyers claimed connected Friday that it could beryllium finished successful 10 to 15 minutes. The lawyers are moving from a sheet of astir 45 prospective jurors.
Combs gives a thumbs up
Sean “Diddy” Combs entered the courtroom soon earlier 9 a.m., hugging his lawyers and giving a thumbs up to spectators who volition beryllium connected benches down the good of the courtroom. The assemblage includes his parent and astatine slightest 4 of his children.
About the courthouse
Subramanian is presiding implicit the proceedings astatine the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse successful little Manhattan, blocks from City Hall and overlooking the East River and the Brooklyn Bridge.
The courthouse, opened successful the mid-1990s, is adjacent to the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, which was built successful the 1930s.
Most of the national judges enactment retired of the newer courthouse. The older one, which was refurbished successful the aboriginal 2000s, houses the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and respective territory tribunal judges person their chambers and courtrooms determination arsenic well.
The courtroom lone seats astir 100 people
And journalists astir apt get 2 to 3 dozen. So astir of the radical successful enactment volition extremity up successful overflow rooms.
This courtroom is 1 of the larger venues successful the courthouse that are utilized for the biggest trials, including erstwhile Donald Trump came aboriginal past twelvemonth for E. Jean Carroll defamation trial. The enactment to get successful stretched each the mode down the block. One line-sitter was trying to merchantability his spot for $300 aft holding his spot overnight.
After a last signifier of assemblage enactment successful the morning, national prosecutors volition statesman trying to beryllium that Combs turned his hip-hop conglomerate into a racketeering endeavor that forced women to fulfill his intersexual desires. Combs has pleaded not guilty.
Inside the Brooklyn national jailhouse wherever Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is locked up: Violence, squalor and death
As they unsuccessfully fought to support Combs out of jail aft his sex trafficking apprehension past year, the euphony mogul’s lawyers highlighted a litany of horrors astatine the Brooklyn national lockup wherever helium was headed: horrific conditions, rampant unit and aggregate deaths.
Combs was sent to the Metropolitan Detention Center successful Brooklyn — a spot that’s been described arsenic “hell connected earth” and an “ongoing tragedy.”
The facility, the lone national jailhouse successful New York City, has been plagued by problems since it opened successful the 1990s. In caller years, its conditions person been truthful stark that immoderate judges person refused to nonstop radical there. It has besides been location to a fig of high-profile inmates, including R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell and cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.
▶ Read much astir the jailhouse wherever Combs is locked up
Diddy tried to obstruct justness from jail, prosecutors argued
In November, prosecutors claimed that Combs had tried to scope retired to prospective witnesses and power nationalist sentiment from jailhouse successful a bid to impact imaginable jurors up of the trial.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, acold left, looks connected from the defence array with his attorneys, arsenic a prospective juror, acold right, answers questions posed by Judge Arun Subramanian, center, astatine Manhattan national court, Monday, May 5, 2025, successful New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
The accusations were made arsenic the authorities opposed a bail connection for the euphony mogul.
Prosecutors wrote that a reappraisal of recorded jailhouse calls made by Combs showed helium asked household members to scope retired to imaginable victims and witnesses and urged them to make “narratives” to power the assemblage pool. They said helium besides encouraged selling strategies to sway nationalist opinion.
An lawyer for Combs, Anthony Ricco, argued successful a hearing that the prosecution’s portrayal of Combs arsenic “a lawless idiosyncratic who doesn’t travel instructions” oregon “an out-of-control idiosyncratic who has to beryllium detained” was inaccurate.
Subramanian denied the bail application, saying grounds showed Combs to beryllium a “serious hazard of witnesser tampering,”
▶ Read much astir the judge’s ruling
The stories down each of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ sanction changes
In the criminal indictment for the enactment trafficking proceedings of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, the papers lists galore of the hip-hop mogul’s aliases.
Most people, particularly euphony fans, astir apt already cognize them.
From “Puff Daddy” to “P. Diddy” and adjacent the obscure “Brother Love,” Combs has had galore self-appointed names during his career.
▶ Read much astir Combs’ self-appointed names
What volition go of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ philharmonic legacy?
Combs is wide recognized arsenic 1 of the astir influential figures successful hip-hop, but his indictment further clouds his legacy. For some, it whitethorn alteration their narration to his music.
Some experts judge the severity of the alleged crimes whitethorn tarnish his vocation moving forward.
“The accidental to conscionable beryllium looked astatine strictly successful philharmonic terms, and that being the defining portion of his legacy, is beauteous overmuch gone,” says Peter A. Berry, a euphony writer with enactment successful XXL and Complex.
“You can’t look astatine Diddy’s euphony successful a vacuum the aforesaid mode you did before,” helium says.
Berry views Combs’ indictment arsenic “a continuation of a reckoning for the rap world,” which includes sexual misconduct allegations leveled astatine Russell Simmons by aggregate women, arsenic good arsenic R&B-singer R Kelly, who is serving a 30-year situation sentence for utilizing his fame to sexually maltreatment young fans, including immoderate who were conscionable children, successful a systematic strategy that went connected for decades.
▶ Read much experts’ comments connected however this indictment volition signifier Diddy’s legacy
Key things to cognize astir this trial
Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested successful September 2024 successful New York aft being indicted by a national expansive assemblage connected national enactment trafficking and racketeering charges.
The apprehension followed a months-long probe and aft a flurry of women came guardant with allegations of intersexual and different abuse.
Combs has been held successful a national jailhouse successful Brooklyn portion awaiting his trial.
If convicted connected each charges — which besides see transporting radical crossed authorities lines to prosecute successful prostitution — Combs faces a imaginable condemnation of decades successful prison.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Combs has acknowledged 1 occurrence of violence — the caught-on-camera beating of his erstwhile girlfriend, R&B vocalist Cassie — his lawyers accidental different allegations are false.
▶ Read much about the case
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