The final stage of jury selection for the sex-trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs was postponed until early next week ahead of the opening arguments over concerns that some jurors might get “cold feet” before the high-profile case begins.
Prosecutors allege that Diddy, 55, used his fame and power at the top of the hip-hop world to sexually abuse women from 2004 to 2024. He pleaded not guilty after his September arrest and has remained held without bail at a federal lockup in Brooklyn.
Judge Arun Subramanian granted the defence lawyers’ request to delay the last step in jury selection until Monday, May 12, when both sides will narrow down the pool of 45 potential jurors to 12 and six alternates.
Subramanian expressed concern that if jurors were selected before the weekend, they could grow anxious and drop off the panel before the trial begins Monday.
The decision came after a potential juror sent an email to ask the court to be left off the panel for “issues of personal well-being,” the defence revealed.
The defence said striking prospective jurors could take as little as 10 to 15 minutes, so why not do it on Monday when they will be present. The jurors weren’t required to be in the Manhattan courtroom on Friday, but Diddy was there.
Prosecutors objected, saying the whole process could get obstructed if several jurors panic after being chosen and decide they don’t want to take part in a high-profile trial that’s expected to last two months.
Potential jurors were asked questions earlier this week to help the judge and lawyers determine if they could be fair and impartial. They were also questioned to ensure they could decide the case on the facts — even after seeing explicit videos of sexual activity that some might find disturbing.
On May 12, prosecutors will be permitted to strike six prospective jurors from the jury while defence lawyers are allowed 10 strikes before the jury is finalized. The process is expected to take up to an hour.
Diddy’s lead lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, told Subramanian Friday that Diddy committed “domestic violence” in his relationship with one of the accusers that is expected to testify at the trial, according to NBC News.
Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, speaks to members of media outside court in New York, US, on Tuesday, Sep. 17, 2024.
Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Agnifilo said the defence team plans to “take the position that there was mutual violence” in Diddy’s relationship with an accuser identified in the indictment as “Victim-1.”
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Diddy’s lawyer said his team plans to argue that “there was hitting on both sides, behaviour on both sides” that constituted violence, according to the outlet.
“It is relevant in terms of the coercive aspects, we are admitting domestic violence,” Agnifilo told the judge.
Prosecutors also revealed Friday that they have not managed to get in touch with the accuser identified as Victim-3 in their indictment, or her lawyer.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey said her team will have a “final answer” soon on whether they will call Victim-3 to the stand.
Diddy faces an indictment that includes descriptions of “Freak Offs,” which are defined in the court doc as “elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded.”
Numerous witnesses have come forward to accuse Diddy of terrorizing people into silence by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging them, according to prosecutors. One indictment alleges that Diddy dangled someone from a balcony.
Although dozens of men and women have alleged in lawsuits that Diddy abused them, this trial will highlight the claims of four women.
One of them is Diddy’s former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie Ventura, whom the rapper was caught on camera beating and dragging down a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
After CNN aired the video last year, Diddy apologized, saying, “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
Ventura filed a lawsuit in late 2023 saying Diddy had subjected her to years of abuse, including beatings and rape after they met in 2005.
Her lawsuit, which offered the first public account of the “Freak Offs” described in the indictment, was settled in a day. Four months later, federal investigators raided Diddy’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami and confronted him at a private airport in Florida, seizing 96 electronic devices. They also found three AR-15-style rifles with defaced serial numbers.
Diddy was indicted last September. He has been held in a federal jail in Brooklyn after judges ruled that he would be a threat to intimidate witnesses and victims if released.
The 17-page indictment against Diddy accuses him of using employees to facilitate his crimes through acts that included kidnapping, arson and bribery.
Diddy is charged with racketeering conspiracy, two charges of sex trafficking and two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution. If he’s convicted on all counts, he has the potential to remain behind bars for life.
Diddy has continued to deny all of the charges the government has brought against him after his September 2024 arrest.
— With files from The Associated Press
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