Bombshell twist in Diddy trial as kidnapping and arson among claims DROPPED from testimony just before closing arguments
In a stunning move by the government, federal prosecutors have removed instructions for jurors related to certain evidence and testimony tied to the racketeering charge Combs is facing.
1
Prosecutors said they're no longer going to argue the allegations of attempted kidnapping, attempted arson, and aiding and abetting sex trafficking, according to a letter filed to Judge Arun Subramanian on Wednesday,
.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Diddy's trial is more proof the legal system can't handle domestic violence
Wouldn't it be nice if, just now and again, bad things happened to bad people? Wouldn't it be refreshing if violence against women was taken seriously instead of being treated like one big joke? Yes, but alas, that is not the world we live in. Over here in reality, we've got an adjudicated sexual predator as president, a defense secretary who has been accused of sexual assault and aggressive behaviour towards his second wife, and a supreme court where a third of the male justices who get a final say on legal issues have been accused of sexual misconduct. And we've got Sean 'Diddy' Combs: the disgraced entertainer who escaped this week with what many people consider to be a slap on the wrist after a New York jury delivered a mixed verdict in his seven-week federal sex-trafficking trial. The trial was focused on allegations that Combs had coerced two women, including his ex-girlfriend Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, to take part in 'freak offs': drug-fueled sexual encounters involving hired male prostitutes and humiliating acts. I don't want to downplay the Diddy verdict. While Combs was acquitted on the most serious federal charges, of racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking, he was still found guilty of the lesser charges of transporting the male prostitutes he allegedly forced women to have sex with across state lines. The disgraced musician was also denied bail and is facing a barrage of new civil cases alleging abuse and assault. While we still don't know how much time (if any) Combs will be sentenced to, he did not get off scot-free. I also don't want to boil the results of a complex trial down to 'misogyny'. It would be overly simplistic to say that the jury of eight men and four women in the Diddy trial simply didn't believe women. The fact is Diddy was not on trial for being an abuser, or a bad person, or for his highly publicized battery of Cassie, one horrifying instance of which was caught on camera and the subject of a previous civil case. He was on trial for a specific set of charges, the most serious of which the prosecution did not have enough evidence to prove. But this is not to say that justice was done. Far from it. The trial is yet another demonstration that the legal system is ill-equipped to deal with the complexities of intimate partner violence, the ways in which survivors deal with trauma, and the uneven power dynamics weaponized by abusers. If we had better legal frameworks for domestic violence and coercive control, perhaps prosecutors would not have turned to trafficking charges to try to secure justice. 'Trafficking cases come with longer statutes of limitations, more severe penalties and more public support,' notes the human-trafficking expert Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco in USA Today. 'And existing domestic violence statutes are often outdated or ill-equipped to address coercive control, especially when the abuser is wealthy, powerful and legally savvy.' It's not just the law that is ill-equipped to address coercive control – this complex issue is still minimized by some factions of the media. A Washington Post piece (written by two women), for example, described Combs as a 'music producer turned modern-day Gatsby', a framing which casts the 'freak offs' as hedonism rather than something more sinister. The writer Sarah Kendzior notes that allusions to F Scott Fitzgerald's Jay Gatsby have been used to soften the image of high-level sexual predators like Jeffrey Epstein for decades. In the courts of public opinion, men like Combs are also far too often seen as playboys rather than predators. After the verdict on Wednesday, CNN reported that several spectators could be seen pouring baby oil on themselves, along with wearing T-shirts reading: A Freako is not a RICO (RICO is a reference to the racketeering charges). Perhaps what is most depressing about the Diddy verdict is that it is all too easy to imagine a path in which Combs finds his way back to prominence in public life. Donald Trump hasn't ruled out pardoning Diddy and it is not inconceivable that he might; birds of a feather stick together, after all. Chris Brown still has a music career despite being charged with felony assault following a domestic violence incident when he beat up Rihanna in 2009. Brett Ratner is directing the very expensive Prime Video documentary about Melania Trump despite being accused of sexual misconduct by six women (he has denied the claims). With enough money, good lawyers and the right connections, you can get away with almost anything. The indictment against Diddy is titled United States of America v Sean Combs, AKA 'Puff Daddy', AKA ' AKA 'Diddy', AKA 'PD', AKA 'Love'. And yet some people think that calling someone by their preferred pronouns is too complicated. 'Tigray is often described as a forgotten war,' Tess McClure writes in an incredibly disturbing but essential read. 'If it has been forgotten, it is not by those who endured it, but by the global powers that looked away from one of the most brutal conflicts of this century.' That brutality includes reported wartime sexual abuse by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers against tens of thousands of Tigrayan women. More brilliant reporting from ProPublica on the devastating effects of abortion bans. There's a longstanding idea that women are fine-tuned to hear babies crying in a way that men aren't. A new study has debunked this. Turns out there's no excuse for the fact mothers are still performing three times more night-time care than fathers. Sign up to The Week in Patriarchy Get Arwa Mahdawi's weekly recap of the most important stories on feminism and sexism and those fighting for equality after newsletter promotion Wired invited a bunch of people in serious relationships with AI partners to a romantic weekend getaway at a remote Airbnb. Agatha Christie would have had a field day with this. Denmark colonized Greenland in the 18th century, then turned it into an autonomous territory. The 'Danization' of Indigenous Greenlanders continues, however. Countless Greenlandic mothers living in Denmark have been separated from their children after failing highly controversial 'parenting competency' tests. These tests 'have been criticised by campaigners and human rights bodies that say they are culturally unsuitable for people from Inuit backgrounds, and therefore discriminatory', the Guardian reports. Médecins Sans Frontières calls for the immediate dismantling of 'the Israeli-US proxy operating under the name the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation'. There is nothing humanitarian about a system where 'over 500 people have been killed and nearly 4,000 have been wounded while trying to get food'. Shame on everyone trying to rebrand and obfuscate Israel's use of starvation as a weapon of war, including all the media companies trying to censor documentaries coming out about the horrors in Gaza and the media personalities and politicians who are more appalled by musicians at Glastonbury than babies dying from engineered starvation. Moira Donegan analyzes the Trump administration and the supreme court's attacks on Planned Parenthood, which mean nearly a third of their clinics may have to close: 'The result is a de facto ban not just on abortion, but on any healthcare provision by pro-choice providers for vast swaths of American women.' Forget snakes on a plane, Santa Barbara has been dealing with sheep on the street. More than 300 sheep caused a traffic jam after escaping from their pens in California. They were eventually returned to safety but for a little while the traffic situation was very baaaaaad. Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Fourth of July bloodbath as mass shooting at bar sees 11 sprayed with bullets
At least 11 people have been injured following a horrific mass shooting in Philadelphia. Gun shots rang out shortly before 4am Saturday at 7 Elements on 11th Street and Washington Avenue, after Fourth of July celebrations descended into a bloodbath. Four women and seven men were injured, NBC Philadelphia reported. At least two are in critical condition, including a security guard who was shot in the face and a woman who was shot in the back. 'Others are reported to have been shot in the legs, extremities, arms, etc., and suffering other non-life-threatening gunshot injuries,' Philadelphia Police Inspector DF Pace said. Bullet casings were found on the upper floor of the establishment and on the staircase that leads to the lower level and parking lot. 7 Elements is located on the second floor of the building and it was unclear if the bar was open at the time. The bar was closed by the time police arrived. Police had to 'defeat' the doors when they arrived to make sure there were not other victims inside the establishment. 'This business should not be open that late, and upon arrival, it was shut, and we had to ensure there were no other victims inside,' Pace said at a press conference. Police are unsure how many gunmen there were and the identities of the victims have not been released. Three were found on the scene and police later learned eight more transported themselves to the hospital. 'They look like they're going to survive,' Pace said of the victims. 'It's a lot of people.' The motive for the shooting is unknown. No arrests have been made. Saturday's shooting was the largest shooting in Philadelphia since two were killed and nine were injured on Memorial Day in Fairmont Park. Multiple rounds of 'rapid' gunfire erupted on Lemon Hill Drive in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, where thousands had gathered to celebrate the long holiday weekend in May. When the shots were fired, a total of 11 people - ranging in age from 15 to 28 - were struck, including Amya Devlin, 23, and Mikhail Bowers, 21, who were tragically killed in the incident. Three teenagers - aged 15, 16 and 17 - were among those injured in the shooting. Police believe at least five guns were fired during the Memorial Day shooting.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Worker is arrested after being accidentally paid $400k by employer
A Florida horse clinic mistakenly paid a receptionist with a veterinarian's checks — and now the $60,000-a-year employee stands accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yessica Arrua, 29, of Wellington, was arrested on June 27 after allegedly pocketing more than $400,000 of someone else's salary. A police report from the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office (PBSO) obtained by the Daily Mail revealed the trouble started in early 2023, when the Palm Beach Equine Clinic's (PBEC) CFO noticed the error and contacted payroll provider Harbor America. The firm had accidentally routed a veterinarian's salary to Arrua's account. Arrua, originally from Argentina, received the inflated pay — nearly seven times her salary — from February 2022 to January 2023, according to the report. Though she allegedly admitted to noticing the overpayment, she never reported it to her employer. Instead, police say Arrua used the extra money at Coach, Michael Kors, restaurants, and furniture stores. Thousands were also sent through Zelle to someone labeled 'Mama Dukes'. The report also details an $80,000 purchase of a food truck for a friend of Arrua's mother, and claims she sent money to Argentina to help build a house. When questioned, Arrua reportedly said she believed the funds were a 'bonus' for her work as a receptionist. She claimed to have heard that a previous receptionist once received one for saving the company money on supplies. Arrua had worked at the clinic for nine years and had known the company president — who eventually reported her — since she was nine years old. The veterinarian whose salary was redirected earned $450,000 a year but reportedly did not monitor her bank deposits. She only discovered the issue when her credit cards started getting declined. After realizing the error, she confronted Arrua, who allegedly broke down and confessed. Arrua then wrote a $200,000 cashier's check to the clinic, but claimed she couldn't return the rest because her mother had already sent $100,000 to relatives in Argentina, believing it was a 'gift from God'. When asked why she hadn't arranged a payment plan, she told police she didn't know how to approach the company president due to his anger.
