A 'fake trial': Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lawyers make final arguments to jurors

BBC News

16 hours ago

The sex trafficking and racketeering case against hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs was "badly, badly exaggerated", his lawyer told a panel of 12 New York jurors on Friday.In his closing, Marc Agnifilo argued for four hours that the government was criminalizing Combs and girlfriends' "swingers lifestyle" in what amounted to a "fake trial". His 55-year-old client pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. "The government targeted Sean Combs," Mr Agnifilo told the court, leading to an objection - later sustained - from prosecutors.
Lawyer Christy Slavik spoke to jurors for five-and-a-half hours in the prosecution's closing arguments on Thursday, telling them that Combs abused his power and business empire to sex traffic women and commit other crimes. The prosecution claimed Combs plied his ex girlfriends with drugs, and used violence and other means to coerce them into so-called "freak-offs" - Combs' name for events where he watched and filmed while they had sex with male escorts. While Ms Slavik was calm and methodical during a guided digital presentation, Mr Agnifilo was animated - pacing back and forth, and frequently cracking jokes. He began by attacking the credibility of Combs' ex-girlfriends who testified against him, Casandra Ventura and anonymous witness "Jane". He called Combs' 11-year-relationship with Ms Ventura - in which she alleges he beat her repeatedly - "one of the great modern love stories". She was a willing participant in their sex lives, he said. "She's a woman who actually likes sex - good for her," Mr Agnifilo said. "She's beautiful, she should." He argued Ms Ventura was no victim, as Combs was now in jail and she settled a civil lawsuit against him for physical abuse and sexual coercion for millions of dollars. "If you had to pick a winner in this whole thing, it's hard not to pick Cassie," he said. The problems in their relationship amounted to domestic violence - and not sex trafficking, Mr Agnifilo said. He tried to cast doubt on prosecutors' argument that the rapper used violence to coerce Ms Ventura into participating in freak-offs. The government has focused on a 2016 surveillance video of Combs beating Ms Ventura in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel, allegedly after she tried to leave a freak-off. Playing the video for jurors again, Mr Agnifilo argued it could not have been an instance of sex trafficking because Ms Ventura appeared to gesture Combs back to their room when a security guard arrived on the scene. There was "nothing scary in the room", he said, adding that freak-offs were "beautiful evenings" with nice music and well-decorated rooms. Mr Agnifilo also attempted to chip away at Jane's testimony, citing one night where she alleges the rapper was violent with her before a freak-off. "Her story truly makes no sense," he said.Combs' lawyer attacked the government's racketeering case, the allegation that Combs relied on his loyal employees to help him commit sex trafficking and other crimes, then cover them up.There was a "gaping lack of evidence" that Combs and his employees ran some sort of criminal enterprise, and that there were any co-conspirators, he said. Combs' former chief-of-staff, Kristina Khorram, whom prosecutors have pointed to as a co-conspirator, is a "helpful" woman who everyone loved, Agnifilo told the jury.A real co-conspirator, he claimed, would have helped kick the door down when Combs is alleged to have tried to break into his ex-girlfriend's home. In response to the transportation to engage in prostitution charge, Mr Agnifilo argued that male escorts the hip-hop mogul and his girlfriends hired were paid "for their time" with the couple, and not for sex. At the end of his arguments, Combs, wearing an off-white sweater, hugged his attorney. His family, including his twin daughters and mother, were seated behind him for the second day in a row. In a rebuttal to the defence's closing on Friday, prosecutor Maurene Comey took a more aggressive tone than Ms Slavik's, slamming Combs' lawyers for suggesting his ex-girlfriends were lying and that they wanted to engage in freak-offs after being beaten. "There is no separating the violence from the sex," Ms Comey said. "They were trapped emotionally, physically and financially."She noted Ms Ventura's lawsuit settlement, asking, "why risk it all by perjuring herself at a federal trial?" Jurors will reconvene on Monday for the judge's instructions on how to weigh the case against the hip-hop mogul. Deliberations are expected to begin soon after. Combs is facing life in prison over the most serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.