Sean 'Diddy' Combs jury to resume deliberations after partial verdict
US District Judge Arun Subramanian said yesterday the jury had reached a verdict on the two counts of sex trafficking and two of transportation to engage in prostitution faced by Mr Combs, a former billionaire known for elevating hip-hop in American culture. The judge did not reveal the verdict on those counts.
Judge Subramanian instructed the 12-member jury to keep deliberating about the racketeering count after the panel sent him a note indicating jurors had "unpersuadable opinions on both sides".
Mr Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to all five felony counts. He faces a mandatory 15-year prison sentence if convicted of sex trafficking. A guilty verdict on either that charge or the racketeering conspiracy count could result in up to a life sentence.
Jurors must be unanimous to reach a verdict on any count.
After reading the note the jury sent Judge Subramanian, Mr Combs appeared emotional, rubbing his eyes and resting his face against his palm while seated at the defence table with his lawyers huddled around him.
Over the course of a seven-week trial in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors sought to persuade jurors that Mr Combs for two decades used his business empire to force two of his romantic partners to take part in drug-fuelled, days-long sexual performances sometimes known as 'freak-offs; with male sex workers in hotel rooms while Mr Combs watched, masturbated and occasionally filmed.
Two of Mr Combs' former romantic partners, the rhythm and blues singer Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura and a woman known in court by the pseudonym Jane, testified that he beat them and threatened to cut off financial support or leak sex tapes if they stopped taking part in the performances.
Mr Combs' lawyers acknowledged that the Bad Boy Records founder, once famed for hosting lavish parties for the cultural elite in luxurious locales like the Hamptons and Saint-Tropez, was at times violent in his domestic relationships. But they said the sexual activity described by prosecutors was consensual.
To convict Mr Combs of racketeering conspiracy, prosecutors would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was part of a criminal enterprise consisting of his employees and other associates whose aim was in part to facilitate his sexual abuse and keep evidence of wrongdoing under wraps.
Jurors heard testimony from Mr Combs' former personal assistants who said their jobs included setting up hotel rooms for "freak offs" and buying their boss drugs.
An InterContinental security guard testified that Mr Combs, in the presence of his chief of staff, paid him $100,000 to hand over what he thought was the only copy of the surveillance tape of his attack on Ms Ventura.
And Scott Mescudi, the rapper known as Kid Cudi, told jurors that Mr Combs was likely involved in an arson on his car after Mr Combs found out he was romantically involved with Ms Ventura.
The defence argued that Mr Combs was a successful entrepreneur who used drugs recreationally, but kept his professional and personal lives separate.
Mr Combs has been held in federal lockup in Brooklyn since his September 2024 arrest.
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