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.
As yesterday, today’s jurors will be held in a separate courtroom and then brought back in one by one to answer any questions from the judge.
They will also be shown an apparently very lengthy list of people and places relevant to the case and asked if they have any connection to them.
On Monday, the following names were mentioned by jurors from the list:
- Michael B. Jordan (actor)
- Mike Myers (actor)
- Kid Cudi (rapper)
- Kanye West (rapper)
- Dallas Austin (songwriter, producer)
- Laurieann Gibson (choreographer, director)
- Dawn Richard (singer)
- Harve Pierre (producer)
- Michelle Williams (singer)
- Cassie Ventura (singer)
Diddy was once a ‘Bad Boy for Life’ and ran an empire. At the start of his trial, he was just a meek defendant
Kelly Rissman was in court yesterday to watch proceedings and writes that the former music mogul appeared meek as jury selection to determine his fate got underway.
Diddy was once a ‘Bad Boy for Life.’ At the start of his trial, he’s a meek defendant
Juror excluded for cause
One of the key questions to establish whether potential jurors can be impartial is whether they or a person close to them has been a victim of a crime similar to that which the defendant has been accused of, and what their experience was in terms of seeking justice.
The first juror to be questioned by Judge Subramanian today tells the court she was the victim of an attempted rape and did not feel the police handled it well.
It also emerged that on her questionnaire, she wrote that Diddy has money and could buy his way out.
She is excluded from the jury pool for cause with no objection from prosecutors.
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, 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.
Jurors quizzed on knowledge of training on sexual harassment and assault
Potential jurors are also asked about their experience with training on issues related to sexual assault.
The next juror says her father is in faculty support for victims of sexual assault on a campus in Indiana. She says he has not spoken with her about it, and it would not impact her take on the case.
On further examination, she says she learned about the case from watching CNN and leaned negatively toward Diddy, believing he has committed some crimes.
Asked if she could be fair, she says yes, but after exiting the room, the defense team moves to strike her for cause. Judge Subramanian agrees.
Four jurors questioned, four jurors excluded
We’re running on four for four today. Before 11 a.m., the first four jurors brought in for individual questioning have been excluded from the jury pool for cause.
In addition to the first two exclusions, one woman, whose son is an executive assistant district attorney in Rockland County, handling criminal cases, said she couldn’t say she wouldn’t be biased, but could try. Judge Subramanian struck her for cause after she left the room.
Following her was a man who said he had seven stents in his heart and couldn’t face a trial. The judge excused him, too.
First juror today to remain in pool
We now have our first potential juror from today’s group who will remain in the pool.
She is a psychology major who has taken sexual harassment training, said she could be fair, and said her experience of lawsuits concerned a fatal car crash involving her mother. Her sister, who passed away from cancer, was also an abuse victim, having gotten into drugs. There were no objections from either side to her participation.
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.
Juror excluded over doubts about impartiality having seen hotel hallway video
The next juror to be questioned, a realtor with Sotheby’s, tells the court he knows a lot of lawyers, and that he and his brother spent ten years in court fighting for their late psychiatrist father’s estate.
As with many of the jurors yesterday, he has seen the clip of Diddy in the hotel hallway that was widely played on CNN, but tells Judge Subramanian he can be fair.
The judge notes that he wrote on his questionnaire that he was unsure if he could be fair. The juror clarified that he didn’t know the video was part of the case and would listen to instructions.
After he exits, Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, points out that a close variant of the video will be played at the trial.
The prosecution says they do not object to him being excluded, which he is.
Juror raises concerns for reading article on jurors who were excluded
Next up is an in-house lawyer for an insurance sales firm whose wife is a child cancer psychologist.
He reveals he read an article going home from the courthouse yesterday about who got excluded from jury service, which, as the judge points out, he was not supposed to.
This raises concerns from the prosecution, who note that he’s a trained lawyer who disobeyed the judge by reading the article.
Diddy’s team says they are not concerned enough to challenge for cause, given he was honest about it.
Judge Subramanian decides to strike the juror.