Latest news with #Diddy:InPlainSight
1News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- 1News
Sean 'Diddy' Combs denied bail after mixed verdict clears him of top charges
A US judge has declined to grant bail to Sean "Diddy" Combs, preventing the hip-hop mogul from being freed ahead of sentencing in his sex crimes case. The bond decision came after a jury convicted Combs of federal prostitution-related offences but acquitted him of sex trafficking and racketeering charges. Combs, 55, has been behind bars since his arrest in September. The Grammy-winning impresario stands convicted of two counts of a crime — transportation to engage in prostitution — that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. But jurors cleared him of charges that could have put him behind bars for life. His lawyers argued that the acquittal on those counts changed the legal landscape enough that he should be freed on US$1 million bond. ADVERTISEMENT Prosecutors said he remained a flight risk. Judge Arun Subramanian said the applicable law didn't allow for Combs' release at this point. Among other reasons, the judge noted Combs' violent history: "At trial, the defence conceded the defendant's violence in his personal relationships, saying it happened with Cassie and Jane." As the judge spoke, Combs remained stoic with his hands at his lap. Earlier today, he dropped to his knees and prayed in the courtroom after he was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put one of hip-hop's celebrated figures behind bars for life. The rapper was convicted of lesser prostitution-related offences and still faces prison time, but is seeking to be freed from jail to await sentencing. The mixed result capped a sordid legal odyssey that shattered Combs' affable "Puff Daddy" image and derailed his career as a Grammy-winning artist and music executive, fashion entrepreneur, brand ambassador and reality TV star. Combs was convicted of flying people around the country, including his girlfriends and male sex workers, to engage in sexual encounters, a felony violation of the federal Mann Act. ADVERTISEMENT As the jury foreman spoke and the "not guilty" verdicts piled up, Combs pumped his fist. As each juror affirmed agreement with the verdict, Combs looked toward the jury and held his hands up in a prayer motion, and he hugged defence lawyer Teny Geragos. Combs' relatives and supporters in the audience could barely contain their relief, despite the judge's admonition to avoid outbursts: When the first "not guilty" was read aloud, someone shouted, "Yeah!" In this courtroom sketch, Sean "Diddy" Combs reacts after he was convicted of prostitution-related offenses but acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges. (Source: Associated Press) Combs, 55, later continued to pump his right fist subtly, seemingly satisfied that he was acquitted on the most serious charges. Combs was convicted of flying people around the country, including his girlfriends and male sex workers, to engage in sexual encounters, a felony violation of the federal Mann Act. Diddy: In Plain Sight is now screening on TVNZ+ ADVERTISEMENT The charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, but Combs' lawyers said that under federal sentencing guidelines he'd likely face 21 to 27 months. Prosecutors, citing Combs' violence and other factors, said he'd likely face 51 to 63 months. Jailed since his arrest last September, he's already served nine months behind bars. But in a triumph for Combs, the jury of eight men and four women acquitted him of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges, related to allegations that he used his money, power and frightening physical force to manipulate his girlfriends into hundreds of drug-fuelled sex marathons with the men. Family members of Sean "Diddy" Combs, react as they leave Manhattan federal court. (Source: Associated Press) Combs' defence team argued that the women were willing participants and that none of his violence justified the severity of the charges. Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer for Combs, asked that his client be immediately released because the federal Mann Act crimes were of a "vastly different nature" than sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. Combs has been behind bars since his September arrest. Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey said he should remain incarcerated as a danger to the community and a threat to flee. She cited evidence of physical abuse and "prolific use and distribution of drugs" that emerged during the trial. "I do believe we'll be seeking a substantial period of incarceration," Comey said. ADVERTISEMENT Both sides filed written submissions expanding on their arguments. Combs appeared overwhelmed as the court adjourned for a few hours. He wiped his face, turning and kneeling at his chair, his head bowed in prayer. In the audience, his relatives stood and applauded as he faced them. "I'll be home soon," he said, and "I love you, baby." "I love you, Mom," he added. Family members of Sean "Diddy" Combs, react as they leave Manhattan federal court. (Source: Associated Press) His relatives applauded him and his lawyers, some of whom had tears in their eyes, as he was led out of court. ADVERTISEMENT There's no date yet for sentencing, when the judge will decide on Combs' punishment for the prostitution conviction. Verdict follows weeks of harrowing testimony Federal officials involved in the case responded to the outcome by noting that sex crimes 'are all too present in many aspects of our society.' 'New Yorkers and all Americans want this scourge stopped and perpetrators brought to justice,' Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton and Ricky J. Patel, who heads federal Homeland Security Investigations' New York office, said in a statement. Jurors deliberated for about 13 hours over three days before announcing their verdict. It came after they said late Tuesday that they had decided on four counts but were stuck on the racketeering one. At that point, the judge told them to keep deliberating and keep the partial verdict under wraps. Combs did not testify at his trial, which featured 34 witnesses as well as video of the rapper attacking his former girlfriend Cassie, the R&B singer born Casandra Ventura. Her lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, said in a statement after the verdict that 'by coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice.' ADVERTISEMENT Cassie testified for four days about her turbulent 11-year relationship with Combs, which began after she signed with his Bad Boy record label. Cassie said Combs became obsessed with voyeuristic encounters, arranged with the help of his staff, that involved sex workers and copious amounts of baby oil. During the sex events, called 'freak-offs' or 'hotel nights,' Combs would order Cassie to do things with other men that she found humiliating, she testified. (Source: Associated Press) When things didn't go Combs' way, he would beat her, she said. "I'm not a rag doll. I'm somebody's child," Cassie told Combs after he dragged her down a hotel hallway in 2016. Another ex-girlfriend, testifying under the pseudonym "Jane," told the jury she repeatedly told Combs she didn't want to have sex with the men hired for their trysts. 'I'm not an animal. I need a break,' she told him. Nevertheless, she said she felt "obligated" to comply with his demands, in part because he paid her rent. ADVERTISEMENT The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has. Defence calls case an invasion of privacy The trial's most famous witness, rapper Kid Cudi, said Combs broke into his home in late 2011 after learning he and Cassie were dating. After his car was firebombed a few weeks later, Cudi — whose real name is Scott Mescudi — said he knew Combs "had something to do" with it. Combs denied it. A supporter of Sean "Diddy" Combs, reacts outside Manhattan federal court. (Source: Associated Press) Combs' defence team acknowledged that he could be violent but argued that prosecutors were intruding in his personal life. In his closing remarks to the jury, Agnifilo said it wasn't illegal for Combs to make "homemade porn" with his girlfriends. "They go into the man's bedroom. They go into the man's most private life. Where is the crime scene?" Agnifilo said. Rapper, entrepreneur and criminal defendant ADVERTISEMENT Combs was at the centre of the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop battles of the 1990s and became one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades, diversifying his interests with the Sean John fashion label, Ciroc vodka, a cable TV channel and a film and TV studio. In 2001, Combs was at the centre of one of the biggest hip-hop trials of its era, stemming from a Manhattan nightclub shooting that injured three people in 1999. Combs was acquitted of charges that he took an illegal gun into the club and tried to bribe his driver to take the fall. His career recovered quickly that time. Combs' reputation may have suffered irreparable damage, though, after Cassie sued him in November 2023, alleging years of sexual and physical abuse. He settled the next day for US$20 million, but more lawsuits by other women and men followed. Most are still pending. Diddy: In Plain Sight is now screening on TVNZ+
1News
3 days ago
- 1News
Diddy trial: Jury reaches partial verdict on four of five counts
The jury in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial said today it has reached a verdict on four of five counts against the hip-hop mogul but was stuck on the top charge, racketeering conspiracy. But the outcome of any of the charges was not yet clear. The judge told the jury to hold off announcing its partial verdict and instead to continue weighing the remaining charge. Like prosecutors and Combs' defence team, Judge Arun Subramanian reasoned that after just two days of deliberations, it was too soon to give up on reaching a verdict on all counts. The development came late in the afternoon local time, when the jury sent a note saying it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the racketeering conspiracy charge because there were jurors with 'unpersuadable views' on both sides. Subramanian noted that juries have a right to deliver a partial verdict, but he said that given that deliberations started only on Monday, he'd rather they continue for now. The jury was eventually dismissed for the day. ADVERTISEMENT Combs' lawyers surrounded him at the defence table soon after the note was sent to the court. The hip-hop mogul appeared morose as they explained to him what was happening. At one point, lead defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo stepped away from the huddle, returned with a piece of paper and handed it to Combs, who read it solemnly. Combs' mother and several of his children returned to the courtroom after the judge announced that the jury had reached a partial verdict. Diddy: In Plain Sight is now screening on TVNZ+ Racketeering conspiracy — count one on the jury's verdict sheet — is the most complicated of the charges against Combs because it requires the jury to decide not only whether he ran a "racketeering enterprise", but also whether he was involved in committing some or all of various types of offences, such as kidnapping and arson. The charge fell under RICO — the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act — which was best known for being used in organised crime and drug cartel cases. The jury has been deliberating since Monday. Earlier Tuesday, they asked to review critical testimony from one of the prosecution's most important witnesses: the hip-hop mogul's former longtime girlfriend Cassie. Cassie Ventura takes an oath before testifying in Manhattan federal court. (Source: Associated Press) ADVERTISEMENT Jurors requested the testimony about 75 minutes into their second day of weighing charges that Combs used his fame, wealth and violence to force two girlfriends into drug-fueled sex marathons with male sex workers known as 'freak-offs' or 'hotel nights". The panel of eight men and four women asked for Cassie's account of Combs beating, kicking and dragging her at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 — an assault captured on now-infamous security camera footage. They also asked to see Cassie's testimony about an incident in which she said Combs accused her of taking drugs from him and kicked her off of their yacht at the Cannes Film Festival in France in 2013. On their way back to the US, she said, he threatened to release explicit videos of her having sex. In addition, the jury asked for Cassie and stripper Daniel Phillip's testimony about her jumping into his lap at a New York City hotel after, as Phillip testified, he suspected Combs had been slapping and slamming her around an adjacent room. "Her whole entire body was shaking, like she was terrified," said Phillip, who was at the hotel for a sexual encounter with Cassie sometime between 2012 and 2014. Phillip testified that he asked Cassie, the R&B singer whose real name is Casandra Ventura, why she was with Combs if he was hitting her and beating her. He said he told her she was in real danger. Cassie, he said, "basically tried to convince me that it was OK, it's OK. I'm fine, I'll be OK." Phillip and Cassie were among the first witnesses who testified when the trial began last month. ADVERTISEMENT The jury's testimony request came soon after Combs' lawyers and prosecutors began the day haggling with Judge Arun Subramanian over a jury question left over from the end of the first day of deliberations on Monday. Jurors wanted clarification about what qualified as drug distribution, an aspect of the racketeering conspiracy charge that would help determine whether Combs could be convicted or exonerated on the count. Subramanian said he would remind jurors of the instructions he gave them on that part of the case before they started deliberating on Monday. Combs' lawyers had pushed for a more expansive response, but prosecutors argued — and Subramanian agreed — that doing so could end up confusing jurors more. The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including Australia's weather bomb, the surprising costs of getting one more dog, and BTS are back. (Source: 1News) On Monday, the panel deliberated over five hours without reaching a verdict. Defence lawyers contend prosecutors are trying to criminalise Combs' swinger lifestyle and that, if anything, his conduct amounted to domestic violence, not federal felonies. Combs, 55, could face 15 years in prison to life behind bars if he is convicted of all charges. Combs, as he has through the trial, conferred intently with his lawyers as they discussed responding to the jury's request. Later, he leaned forward to scrutinize something on the computer screen that sits in front of him. ADVERTISEMENT After pleading not guilty, Combs chose not to testify as his lawyers built their arguments for acquittal mostly through lengthy cross examinations of dozens of witnesses called by prosecutors, including some of Combs' former employees who took the witness stand reluctantly only after being granted immunity. When jurors first left the room to begin deliberating on Monday, Combs sat for a while slumped in his chair at the defence table before standing and turning toward three rows of spectators packed with his family and friends. This courtroom sketch depicts Sean "Diddy" Combs sitting at the defense table during his bail hearing in New York on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Source: Associated Press) Those supporters held hands and lowered their heads in prayer, as did Combs, who was several feet from them in the well of the courtroom. After they finished, they together applauded, and so did Combs, still clapping as he turned back toward the front of the room. Combs also showed off two books he's reading: The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale and The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor. Barely an hour into deliberations, the jury foreperson sent a note to the judge, complaining that there was one juror 'who we are concerned cannot follow your Honor's instructions. May I please speak with your Honor or may you please interview him?' The judge decided instead to send jurors a note reminding them of their duties to deliberate and obligation to follow his instructions on the law. ADVERTISEMENT By day's end, the jury seemed back on track, sending the note about drug distribution
