Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lawyers seek impartial jurors amid intense media coverage
NEW YORK (Reuters) -For the past year-and-a-half, allegations of sexual misconduct against rapper Sean "Diddy" Combshave attracted widespread media attention, including several documentaries and podcasts, sullying the reputation of the mogul once known for his rags-to-riches life story and for elevating hip-hop in American culture.
On Monday, with his criminal trial on sex trafficking charges just weeks away, Combs' lawyers will start their search for jurors who have not yet made up their minds about the artist and entrepreneur once known as "Puff Daddy."
Hundreds of New York residents who have been summoned for jury duty will arrive at the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan this week to fill out questionnaires asking them what they already know about the case. It is the first step toward seating a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates that will determine Combs' fate after a trial expected to last eight to 10 weeks.
While the judge and lawyers for both sides will know the jurors' names, their identities will not be disclosed to the public. Anonymous juries are not the default in the U.S. criminal justice system, but they are frequently used in high-profile trials to protect jurors from potential harassment or threats.
Combs is accused of forcing women to take part in elaborate sex performances with male sex workers called "freak-offs" over two decades. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have argued that the sex acts prosecutors described were consensual.
Combs has been in the public eye for decades and is known for founding Bad Boy Records, turning musical artists such as Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, and living a lavish lifestyle befitting a celebrity whose net worth Forbes estimated at more than $1 billion in 2022.
His downfall since he was indicted last September has been widely documented, including in several documentaries and podcasts such as the Max miniseries "The Fall of Diddy" and the Daily Mail's podcast "The Trial of Diddy."
The media saturation could leave many prospective jurors with the impression that he is likely guilty, said Christina Marinakis, a jury consultant.
"As a defense side, you're really wanting to get jurors that have not heard anything about this case or know very, very little about it, so they come in with a truly blank slate," said Marinakis, the CEO of Immersion Legal Jury.
VOIR DIRE
After prospective jurors fill out questionnaires, defense lawyers and prosecutors will submit a list to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian of those the two sides agree should move forward in the selection process, as well as who should be excused and those about whom they cannot agree. The judge may hold a hearing to resolve any disputes.
Starting May 5, Subramanian will question the remaining prospective jurors in person, a process known as voir dire designed to elicit signs of potential bias. Subramanian will dismiss those he finds would not be able to be fair and impartial. The prosecution and the defense will then be able to dismiss a limited number of jurors without articulating a reason, known as peremptory strikes.
The process is not foolproof. British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell unsuccessfully sought to have her sex trafficking conviction overturned after a juror who had checked "no" when asked in a pretrial questionnaire whether he had been a victim of sexual abuse, said in media interviews after the trial that he had been sexually abused as a child.
Both the defense lawyers and the prosecutors are likely to review prospective jurors' social media accounts to see if they have expressed opinions about the case or on other matters that could indicate bias, Marinakis said.
Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, a New York-based defense lawyer, said Combs' panel would likely consist ultimately of people without firm convictions about issues of consent and sexual abuse.
"One side or theother will figure out a way to get rid of the ones who do have strong opinions," Margulis-Ohnuma said.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York;Editing by Noeleen Walder and Rod Nickel)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Several killed in train crash in Germany, media say, citing security sources
(Reuters) -Several people were killed when a passenger train derailed in southwestern Germany near the town of Biberach, close to the border with France, German media reported on Sunday, citing security sources. Police in Stuttgart, who were cited by media in initial reports of the crash, were not immediately available for comment. A picture published in German media showed carriages had left the tracks and rolled over. (Reporting by Francois MurphyEditing by Ros Russell)
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
Romanian deputy PM resigns after bribery case resurfaces
BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian deputy prime minister Dragos Anastasiu resigned on Sunday after an old corruption scandal in which he was involved as a witness resurfaced at a time when the one-month-old coalition government is trying to enforce cost-cutting reforms. Anastasiu had been tasked by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan with overseeing the reform of state-owned companies, part of broader efforts to reduce the largest budget deficit in the European Union and root out waste and inefficiency. Last week, an old corruption case revealed that one of Anastasiu's firms had been blackmailed by a tax authority inspector into paying bribes disguised as consultancy fees for eight years from 2009 or risk lengthy inspections. The company later denounced the inspector, who was convicted in 2023. Anastasiu and his business partner were never charged with a crime. Anastasiu said his company had paid all its taxes and the bribes were "for survival, not profit". "I encourage every entrepreneur to speak out and say under what conditions business has been done in Romania and no longer accept what we did while making mistakes," he told reporters on Sunday. The government, which will hike several taxes from August and is laying off staff and cutting bonuses, has already faced several street protests but has narrowly avoided a ratings downgrade from the lowest rung of investment grade. The European Union and NATO state has been rocked by political instability in the wake of a presidential election, which was cancelled in December and re-run in May, with market turmoil boosting borrowing costs and crashing the leu currency. (Reporting by Luiza Ilie; editing by Giles Elgood)
The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
Ukrainian drones target St Petersburg as Putin attends scaled-down Navy Day
Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen onboard a Raptor patrol boat on Russia's Navy Day in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 27, 2025. Sputnik/Alexei Danichev/Pool via REUTERS MOSCOW (Reuters) -Ukrainian drones targeted St. Petersburg on Sunday, Russian authorities said, forcing the airport to close for five hours as Vladimir Putin marked Russia's Navy Day in the city, despite the earlier cancellation of its naval parade due to security concerns. St. Petersburg usually holds a large-scale, televised navy parade on Navy Day, which features a flotilla of warships and military vessels sailing down the Neva River and is attended by Putin. Last year, Russia suspected a Ukrainian plan to attack the city's parade, according to state television. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Sunday that this year's parade had been cancelled for security reasons, following first reports of its cancellation in early July. Putin arrived at the city's historic naval headquarters on Sunday by patrol speed boat, from where he followed drills involving more than 150 vessels and 15,000 military personnel in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and Baltic and Caspian Seas. "Today we are marking this holiday in a working setting, we are inspecting the combat readiness of the fleet," Putin said in a video address. The Russian Defence Ministry said air defence units downed a total of 291 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones on Sunday, below a record 524 drones downed in attacks on May 7, ahead of Russia's Victory Day parade on May 9. Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region surrounding St. Petersburg, said that over ten drones were downed over the area, and falling debris injured a woman. At 0840 GMT on Sunday Drozdenko said that the attack was repelled. St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport was closed during the attack, with 57 flights delayed and 22 diverted to other airports, according to a statement. Pulkovo resumed operations later on Sunday. Russian blogger Alexander Yunashev, part of an official group of reporters travelling with Peskov, said Peskov had told him their flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg had been delayed by the drone attack for 2 hours on Sunday. (Additional reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
