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.
Laughter as potential juror says he works at Diddy's prison
There was laughter when a male juror announced he works at Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn — the prison where Diddy (and Luigi Mangione) is currently detained.
He was excluded.
One more juror added to pool
Shortly before the court took a break, another female juror was added to the pool, having said that while she was shocked by the hotel hallway video, she could still be fair.
She added that her social media was mostly dogs and food.
That should put us on 43 jurors in the pool with a target of 45.
Stay tuned.
Diddy allowed to wear non-prison clothes at trial
Sean “Diddy” Combs, 55, has been held at a federal jail in Brooklyn since his September arrest. His formerly jet black hair is now almost completely gray because dye isn’t allowed at the detention center.
Combs, who had his own fashion line, has worn yellow jail uniforms in pretrial hearings.
However, for the trial, the judge said he can have up to five button-down shirts, five pairs of pants, five sweaters, five pairs of socks, and two pairs of shoes without laces.
Under federal court rules, no photos or video of the trial will be allowed. Courtroom sketches are permitted.
Today's jury pool returns for group questions
The potential jurors still in the jury pool have been brought back into the court together for the group questioning, during which we find out more biographical details.
Jury may not be finalized until Friday
The jury in the sex trafficking trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs isn’t expected to be finalized until Friday, two days later than expected.
Judge Arun Subramanian granted a request by lawyers Wednesday for extra time to decide who they will eliminate from the list of prospective jurors. It's the last step of a jury selection process that began when potential jurors filled out questionnaires last week.
For the past three days, the judge has been questioning prospective jurors one at a time to see who can be fair and unbiased. On Friday, lawyers on each side will be permitted to eliminate several individuals from the panel of jurors — for reasons they usually do not have to explain. That procedure, which typically takes an hour or less, produces the final jury of 12 plus alternates.
Then on Monday, opening statements are scheduled for a trial that is expected to last up to two months in federal court in Manhattan.
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Jury in Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial may not be finalized until Friday
What do we know about today’s jury pool?
The pool of jurors being considered to be part of the jury and alternates in the Diddy trial is largely drawn from Manhattan, the Bronx, and Westchester counties (being part of the Southern District of New York — other city boroughs and Long Island fall into the Eastern District).
They variously list their jobs as teaching, nursing, finance, HR, law, window cleaning, maintenance, and unemployed.
One is a proud Trekkie, another a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, and another in the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
They get their news from The New York Times, Fox News, Al-Jazeera, WFDU, and “every major news source,” while also reading GQ, Forbes, House & Garden, Wired, and magazines about video games and nursing.
For entertainment, they watch ESPN, Chicago PD, Bravo, Andor, Elsbeth, Wheel of Fortune, and science fiction. They listen to Caribbean music, rap, hip hop, jazz, metal, contemporary Christian, rock country, LoFi, and Korean band BTS.
As for hobbies, they are fans of cooking and baking, running, photography, gaming, pickleball, building models, and drones.
Judge Subramanian dismissed the pool for the day and warned them not to read or post anything online about the case.
Judge wavers on Friday before agreeing to strikes then
Having finished today’s jury selection at lunchtime, Judge Subramanian proposes that they do peremptory strikes of jurors today.
There was concern from prosecutors that by striking now and then, having days in which jurors may try to get off the case, they may fall below the 18 people they require for the trial.
The judge countered that cold feet will happen no matter what.
Prosecutors said that there may be other work to be done beyond the peremptory challenges, and other arguments may be teed up for Friday.
Judge Subramanian conceded that 9 a.m. Friday was acceptable.
Which celebrities were mentioned so far during Diddy’s sex trafficking trial
Jury selection in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs continued Wednesday in Manhattan’s federal court, where potential jurors were asked if they recognized a slew of A-list stars.
Isabel Keane takes a look at who was mentioned — and why.
The celebrities mentioned during Diddy’s sex trafficking trial
What do we know about the plea deal Diddy rejected?
Sean “Diddy” Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, including sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation for prostitution purposes, and has maintained his innocence since being arrested.
Last Thursday, standing before a judge in his final pre-trial hearing, Combs said he rejected the government’s offer to plead guilty to charges in exchange for a lesser sentence.
Ariana Baio reports.
Diddy rejects plea deal offer ahead of his trial on sex-trafficking charges
Judge admonishes lawyer for racial remarks about Diddy prosecution team
The judge overseeing Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial admonished a lawyer close to the hip-hop mogul's defense team for referring to the prosecutors in the case as a “six-pack of white women” in comments made on a podcast.
The lawyer, Mark Geragos, remarked in a May 2 episode of Two Angry Men, a podcast he co-hosts with Harvey Levin, the founder of celebrity news website TMZ, that the racial and gender composition of the six-member prosecution team was “interesting.”
Geragos acknowledged that race may be an “undercurrent” at the trial, but emphasized that it would not be a focus of Combs’ defense.
“That's something that you shouldn't, that no one should be saying as an officer of the Court and a member of the bar,” U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian told Geragos in a private conversation in his robing room on Tuesday before jury selection resumed, according to a trial transcript.
“Referring to the prosecution in this case as a six-pack of white women is outrageous,” stated the judge, who is of South Asian descent.
Combs, who is Black, has pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment charging him with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Jury selection is expected to finish on Friday, with opening statements scheduled for Monday.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office allege that Combs used his business empire to coerce women into participating in days-long, drug-fueled sex parties known as freak offs. His defense will argue that the sex acts described by the prosecutors were consensual and that the alleged victims expected to testify against him cannot be trusted.
Combs' lawyers have argued in court documents that he is being unfairly targeted for prosecution because of his race, but they will not make that argument at trial.
Geragos, who is white, is a well-known Los Angeles-based lawyer who has represented President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, as well as Lyle and Erik Menendez, two brothers convicted of murdering their parents in 1989.
He is not representing Combs in his criminal case, but told Subramanian he speaks with the rapper frequently and represents his mother in a matter, which he did not describe in detail. Geragos' daughter, Teny Geragos, is one of Combs' defense lawyers at trial.
With reporting from Reuters