Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: Jury selection set to be finalized Friday in sex trafficking case
Court narrows down potential jurors from 600 to dozens, with opening statements set for Monday, May 12
The final round of jury selection will begin Monday in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The court must seat a panel of 18 New Yorkers — 12 jurors and six alternates — before opening statements are set to begin on May 12.
On Monday, lawyers will use peremptory challenges to strike off some of the remaining 43 potential jurors they do not want at trial to narrow that number down to 18. Opening statements will start after.
The music mogul is facing a five-count indictment accusing him of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy.
The rapper was arrested in September 2024 as federal authorities alleged Combs and his associates threatened, abused, and coerced victims “to fulfill his sexual desires.” This included “Freak Offs,” recorded sex performances that prosecutors say Diddy arranged and forced victims to participate in. During searches of his homes, authorities seized narcotics and 1,000 bottles of lubricant and baby oil.
Two superseding indictments against the music mogul were added. In March, fresh allegations of “forced labor,” and in April, an additional charge of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Diddy has denied any accusations of wrongdoing and has rejected the government’s plea deal offer.
One more juror in, three more excused
Another juror moves into the pool, having — like many others — acknowledged he knows the basics of the case from the news.
Three more jurors are excused. One has a bias toward law enforcement, and another has to pick up her child from school every day.
The third has friends with connections to the music industry. Her friend’s son works for 300 Records, a rap and hip-hop label (she adds that his name was not on the list of people and places who may be mentioned at trial that jurors were asked to look at), and another friend’s son is country music singer-songwriter Aidan Canfield.
How does jury selection work?
Here’s a quick reminder as to how jury selection works.
Some 600 prospective jurors have filled out questionnaires to help the legal team whittle down the numbers and end up with a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates in case any of the jurors have to step down for some reason — alternates sit through the whole trial and see all the evidence.
Dozens of the prospects will be asked about their questionnaire responses in this voir dire stage, which began yesterday, to identify anyone who might not be impartial.
The questionnaires included questions on what they had read or heard about the charges against Diddy, and their own personal experiences connected to the alleged criminal acts, for example, if they or a family member had ever been a victim of assault. A similar process was undertaken in the federal trial of Ghislaine Maxwell for sex trafficking. Jurors have the option of speaking in private to the judge and legal teams to preserve privacy when answering those questions.
While the defense and prosecution have an unlimited number of “for cause” challenges to dismiss a prospective juror, Judge Arun Subramanian will ultimately make the final decision on whether someone should be excused from this high-profile trial.
Once a pool of 45 potential jurors is established, on Friday morning, both sides will be able to exercise what are called “peremptory strikes” to remove a juror without any explanation, until the final 18 are left.
Another two jurors added to pool
Two more jurors have been added to the pool — a female middle school teacher from Manhattan who said she had seen the hotel hallway footage of Diddy and Cassie, and another woman who said she does not use social media, and while she has never discussed sexually explicit content with strangers before, thinks she could.
Another female juror, who works at a charter school in the Bronx, said she had seen the video and would have a bias against Diddy. She was excused for cause.
Juror opinions on hotel hallway video seem crucial
Again and again, whether jurors believe they can be impartial, having seen the hotel hallway security video of Diddy and Cassie, seems to be a crucial factor in inclusion in the jury pool.
While other issues come up about experience with crime and law enforcement, follow-up questions usually go back to the video.
A lawyer for a financial services firm (her husband’s) who had seen the video said that as an attorney, she felt a deep ethical duty to be fair to the defendant. She was included in the pool.
The next juror to be questioned said it would be very difficult to be impartial and was excused for cause.
Juror excused for negative view of law enforcement
A juror has been excused for cause for having a negative view of law enforcement from her experience with a supervisor while working as a security guard.
Another juror says she has only heard about the case from Judge Subramanian during his introduction, prompting the judge to say: “Good answer.”
She is in the pool, which should take us to 40 potential jurors, leaving five more to go.
Who are the main players on the prosecution and defense teams?
The trial is taking place in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian. He's a Columbia Law School graduate and former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was appointed a federal judge by President Joe Biden in 2022.
The prosecution team consists of eight assistant U.S. attorneys, seven of them women. They include Maurene Ryan Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey. She was among the prosecutors in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein.
Combs' team of seven defense attorneys is led by New York lawyer Marc Agnifilo, who, along with his wife Karen Friedman Agnifilo, is also defending Luigi Mangione, the man accused of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Also on the defense team is Atlanta attorney Brian Steel, who represented Young Thug in a trial that went on for nearly two years before the rapper pleaded guilty to gang, drug, and gun charges.
Potential juror knows judge
After another juror is excused for cause, the next juror walks into court, and Judge Subramanian laughs — they know each other.
The juror explains that they did antitrust class actions together, and he also knew former US Attorney Geoffrey Berman of the Southern District of New York.
He further says that he has a client who requires his counsel in regular business hours and that he works around the clock, as well as upcoming testimony before the Judiciary Committee.
The defense team asks whether his client will be ill-served or relationship impaired by his absence, to which the juror replies that he may be, as it is related to a transaction.
After the juror leaves the courtroom, the prosecution says that he seems unbiased but he may have an outsized influence on other jurors.
The defence says they have no issue with his relationship with the court, but there are concerns about the client.
Judge Subramanian excludes him.
Why isn't Diddy's trial being live-streamed or televised?
Sean “Diddy” Combs faces federal criminal charges, which means the presence of “electronic media” is expressly banned by a procedural rule passed in 1946.
The Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53 bars both photographs and broadcasting from the courtroom of a federal criminal trial. This was also the case in the federal criminal trial of R. Kelly, on similar charges.
The rules governing federal civil proceedings are somewhat more flexible, permitting recording in certain situations at the judge's discretion.
Some criminal trials at the state level, such as in the closely watched case of Alex Murdaugh in South Carolina, permit cameras in the courtroom.
For Diddy, we have to rely on in-court reporting by journalists and sketches by court artists.
Two more jurors added to pool
Two more jurors have joined the wider pool.
First, a woman who saw the video but believes she can be fair, saying there are two sides to everything.
Second, a Star Wars fan who has been binge-watching Andor, who gave somewhat meandering answers according to the prosecution.
The defence said he was light-hearted and opposed dismissing him for cause, which Judge Subramanian did not.
Debate over inclusion of UN worker
A woman is excluded for saying she had seen a lot of tweets about the case against Diddy and that it looks “pretty straightforward.”
A man who works at the UN was the subject of some back-and-forth between the judge and lawyers. While the prosecution didn’t oppose him, the defense took issue with some of his answers about his work, claiming they did not make sense.
Judge Subramanian said he would not strike the juror for cause but would question him more about his work.