P. Diddy Trial: Jury Agrees on Verdict on Four of Five Counts
P. Diddy's high-profile sex trafficking trial is nearing its conclusion. The jury has already decided several counts, but not the main charge of conspiracy, the most important one.
By Le Parisien with AFPThe announcement of the final verdict is imminent. The jury in the sex trafficking trial of hip-hop mogulP. Diddy reached a verdict on four counts on Tuesday, according to US media reports.
According to the media, the jurors informed Judge Arun Subramanian, without announcing their decision, that they had agreed on verdicts on the sex trafficking charges, but not on the main charge of criminal conspiracy, which carries a potential life sentence.
The four counts on which the jury agreed each carry a maximum sentence of ten to fifteen years in prison. After reviewing them, the prosecution and defense asked the judge to allow the jury to continue deliberating on the remaining count before announcing verdicts on the remaining charges.
During the seven weeks of this highly publicized trial in Manhattan Criminal Court, jurors heard from 34 witnesses, pored over thousands of pages of transcripts of phone conversations and text messages, and scrutinized financial documents to decide the fate of the hip-hop star.
P. Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs, is accused of forcing women —including his girlfriend from 2007 to 2018, singer Cassie , and a more recent ex-girlfriend who testified under the pseudonym "Jane"—to engage in sex marathons with male prostitutes while he masturbated or filmed. He also led a criminal network to organize these marathons, known as "freak-offs."
"These were absolutely not free choices," prosecutor Christy Slavik repeated in her closing argument, adding that the alleged victims "were drugged, covered in oil, exhausted and in pain." "She ( Cassie ) was always free to leave. She chose to stay because she was in love with him and he was in love with her (...), she likes sex and good for her," retorted Marc Agnifilo, the rapper's lawyer.
Diddy pleaded not guilty to the charges and chose not to testify, a common defense strategy in the United States. His lawyers are not required to prove their client's innocence, but rather to sow reasonable doubt among the jury about the prosecutors' accusations.
Le Parisien
