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.
Who are the witnesses and what is the evidence against Diddy?
Without identifying them publicly, prosecutors have said four of Sean “Diddy” Combs' accusers will testify at the trial.
The prosecution will be allowed to show the jury security video of Combs beating and kicking one of his accusers, the R&B singer Cassie, in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
Diddy's attorneys are expected to argue at trial that the government is demonizing and distorting the sexual activity of consenting adults. They have also argued that two of Combs' longtime girlfriends willingly brought a male sex worker into their relationship.
Cassie, whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura, was Combs' on-again-off-again romantic partner for more than a decade. Her 2023 lawsuit against Combs alleging years of abuse, including rape, began the scrutiny that eventually led to his prosecution.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Ventura did.
What we won't hear at the trial
Since 2023, dozens of women and men have been filing lawsuits against Combs, claiming that he sexually or physically abused them. Many of those people said they were slipped drugs at events hosted by Combs and were abused while they were incapacitated.
Combs has denied all of the allegations through his lawyers.
Some of those lawsuits have claimed that other celebrities were either present for or participated in the abuse.
The great majority of those allegations, however, aren't part of the criminal case. Prosecutors have chosen to focus on a relatively small number of accusers and allegations where there is physical evidence or corroboration by witnesses.
Diddy team gets 10 juror strikes, prosecution six
Diddy’s defense team gets 10 peremptory strikes to remove jurors they do not want to hear the case against their client without giving cause.
The prosecution gets six peremptory strikes.
After those have been used up, each side will get three strikes each to establish the six alternates.
This will take place at 9 a.m. on Friday morning.
Court will be dark tomorrow.
The stories behind all of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ name changes
From “Puff Daddy” to “P. Diddy” and even the obscure “Brother Love,” here's a look back at Combs' self-appointed names and what was going on during his career in each era.
From P to Brother Love: The stories behind all of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ name changes
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.
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
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.
Thank you for joining us today
Thank you for joining our live blog of jury selection in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs today.
We are now pausing our rolling coverage as the court is dark on Thursday.
The final stage of jury selection will resume on Friday morning at 9 a.m., when each legal team will exercise their peremptory strikes on jurors to whittle down the 45 members of the pool to 12 jurors and six alternates who will sit for the estimated eight weeks of the trial.
We’ll be following developments as they happen, so join us then.
In the meantime, here’s Ariana Baio with all the shocking allegations that make up the case:
‘Freak offs’, baby oil and the Cassie tape: Allegations behind Diddy’s trial
Final day of jury selection to begin shortly
Friday is expected to be the final day of jury selection.
Opening statements are slated to begin on Monday, May 12. But first, the lawyers on both sides must whittle down the jury pool.
On Wednesday afternoon, that pool had been narrowed down to 45 potential jurors.
By the end of the day, that figure will have to be brought down to just 18, as attorneys will use peremptory challenges to strike jurors who they don’t want in Diddy’s trial.
Jury selection is expected to resume at 9 a.m. Friday.