As we speak is D day for Diddy.
Jury choice begins this morning in one of many hardest jurisdictions within the nation – the Southern District of New York – for the federal intercourse trafficking and racketeering trial of hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The 55-year-old Dangerous Boy Information founder faces as much as life in jail on racketeering and intercourse trafficking prices, with prosecutors alleging he compelled his ex-lovers into so-called “Freak-Offs,” and ran his firm as a felony enterprise.
Combs has pleaded not responsible to the fees and turned down a plea deal from prosecutors about 10 days in the past, the small print of which haven’t been made public.
Sources advised The Publish Diddy might have turned it down as a result of he and his high-powered authorized group really feel assured they will beat the rap.
The feds contend of their indictment towards him that Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”
Combs’ group, nevertheless, preserve that he’s only a “swinger” and his sexual escapades had been merely the consensual adventures of a high-flying tycoon.
“There’s a lifestyle, call it swingers or whatever you will, that he thought was appropriate because it was common,” Combs’ protection lawyer Marc Agnifilo advised the court docket on April 25.
However veteran protection legal professional Arthur Aidala who’s representing one other embattled mogul, Harvey Weinstein, in his present retrial, mentioned Combs’ protection “faces an uphill battle” on the Daniel Patrick Moynihan courthouse the place his case might be heard.
Referring to a now-infamous video which surfaced final 12 months of ‘Diddy’ violently assaulting his ex Cassie Ventura in a resort hallway, Aidala advised The Publish: “There’s already a lot of negative publicity out there and that one (Cassie Ventura) video doesn’t look pretty, so you know this case is going off with like at least one strike against [Diddy] if not a strike and a half out of three,” Aidala advised The Publish.
Combs, for his half, has been languishing in a Brooklyn lockup for the previous seven months. He was arrested by Homeland Safety brokers at a New York Metropolis resort in Sept. 2024.
Federal brokers raided the rap producer’s properties in Los Angeles and Miami in Might 2024 as a part of the intercourse trafficking probe into him. They discovered 1,000 bottles of child oil and lube that had been allegedly for use throughout “Freak Off” intercourse periods, in line with the indictment.
Listed below are the 5 most urgent questions forward of the trial’s begin:
What are the precise prices Diddy is going through and who’re his alleged victims?
Diddy is charged with racketeering conspiracy, two prices of intercourse trafficking and two prices of transportation to interact in prostitution. The federal indictment contains accusations that weapons present in Diddy’s home had defaced serial numbers, that kidnapping and arson had been used to intimidate his victims, and that he additionally tried to bribe folks and obstructed justice.
Who’s going to testify on the trial?
Combs’ ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, is anticipated to testify be one of many star witnesses towards him, together with three different alleged victims who will use pseudonyms after they take the stand.
Decide Arun Subramanian dominated April 25 that jurors may also be allowed to observe disturbing video of Combs kicking and dragging Ventura within the hallway of an InterContinental Resort in Century Metropolis, Los Angeles, on March 5, 2016.
Combs’ camp had claimed the video needs to be stored out of the trial, alleging CNN “substantially altered” after which destroyed the unique footage earlier than broadcasting it.
However the decide, in one in every of a number of rulings handed down in the course of the 90-minute listening to, famous that the feds have two witnesses ready to testify the video is genuine.
What’s the protection technique prone to be?
With all of the negativity surrounding Diddy, the protection will do its greatest to who the jury that beneath all of it, the rap mogul is only a individual like them, however maybe just a bit extra… freaky.
“The jury is going to want to hear from [Diddy], which will humanize him,” mentioned Joel Denaro, a Miami-based lawyer who’s shoppers have included rapper Pras Michael from the Fugees and actual property brothers Oren and Alon Alexander.
“He wants to show that he is not the head of a RICO [crime] organization but instead is Diddy, the superstar rapper.”
On the opposite aspect of it, mentioned Denaro, the purpose needs to be made that, “obviously, he is sexually extroverted, but he is not a sex trafficker. He’s a music mogul with a private plane and when you get famous, it is very attractive to people. They want to be around you. But that is not a crime.”
So far as Diddy not accepting the prosecution’s provide that might maintain him from touchdown a possible life sentence, Denaro mentioned, “I think his lawyer must realize that Diddy has a very strong case. That would be why they turned down the plea offer.”
How do the feds describe a “freak off”?
In response to the indictment towards Diddy, freak offs “were elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded.”
The indictment goes on to take care of the intercourse extravaganzas required advance planning and a number of organizers. It additionally explains how the case grew to become federal by crossing state traces.
“In arranging these freak offs, Combs, with the assistance of members and associates of the Combs Enterprise, transported, and caused to be transported, commercial sex workers across state lines and internationally,” it claims.
As per the indictment, the freak offs had been allegedly marathon periods that “occurred regularly, sometimes lasted multiple days, and often involved multiple commercial sex workers.”
The court docket doc additionally alleges that medication and video cameras amped up the proceedings. “During freak offs, Combs distributed a variety of controlled substances to victims, in part to keep the victims obedient and compliant,” said the indictment.
“Sometimes unbeknownst to the victims, Combs kept videos he filmed of victims engaging in sex acts with commercial sex workers.”
After freak offs, Combs and the victims “typically received IV fluids to recover from the physical exertion and drug use,” per the indictment.
What’s not going to be included within the trial?
Since February of 2024, 63 lawsuits have been filed towards Combs — alleging sexual assault, battery, intercourse trafficking, drugging and gang rape, amongst different prices. Combs has denied all of the accusations towards him.
None of them had been included within the federal indictment towards him.
The one civil case Combs settled was with Ventura, with it being delivered to an in depth in the future after it was filed on Nov. 17, 2023. Nonetheless, that lawsuit and the allegations it contained is seen as opening the floodgates to all the opposite complaints towards Diddy.
Plenty of the incidents described are additionally liable to be referenced or come up in the course of the federal trial, in line with authorized sources.
The newest lawsuit, filed April 1 by a John Doe (there are 41 lawsuits by nameless Jane or John Does), alleges Combs coerced the male plaintiff into performing oral intercourse whereas he was engaged on a industrial shoot.
Many of the circumstances — filed by 26 males and 37 ladies, starting from folks he allegedly met at Trend Week occasions and music movies to aspiring musicians and a contestant on the truth present “I Want to Work for Diddy” — are ongoing, guaranteeing that even when he triumphs at his trial, his authorized nightmares are removed from over.
