Prosecutors within the high-profile racketeering and sex-trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs have declared all the way through opening statements that “there was another side” to the hip-hop wealthy person that “ran a criminal enterprise”, including: “This case is not about a celebrity’s private sexual preferences.”
Combs, 55, was once arrested in September 2024 and has been charged with one rely of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of intercourse trafficking and two counts of transportation for prostitution – all prison fees.
Emily A Johnson, the prosecutor, used her remarks on Monday to accuse Combs of threatening, drugging and violently coercing girls into intercourse, in line with journalists throughout the court docket. She added that Combs had an interior coterie who helped him duvet up the alleged crimes, and that corporate assets have been used to meet his sexual wants. “He sometimes called himself the king, and he expected to be treated like one,” she stated.
The trial started in earnest after legal professionals on either side got rid of a number of jurors on Monday morning, with Combs legal professional Marc Agnifilo noting that prosecutors eradicated seven Black possible jurors. The prosecution says it didn’t exhibit any bias all the way through jury variety and decided on a “very diverse group of jurors”.
The jury decided on contains 8 males and 4 girls; the six alternates are two girls and 4 males.
Federal prosecutors allege that Combs used his expansive multimedia empire as a “criminal enterprise” with the assistance of friends and workers, to interact in or try to interact in crimes together with intercourse trafficking, kidnapping, compelled hard work, arson, bribery, enticement to interact in prostitution and obstruction of justice, over a number of a long time.
Combs has pleaded no longer to blame to all fees and firmly denies any wrongdoing. Earlier this month, he rejected a plea deal all the way through his ultimate pre-trial listening to.
If convicted, Combs, who has been in custody since his September arrest, faces the potential for spending the remainder of his existence at the back of bars.
The trial is predicted to closing round 8 weeks, with testimony from a minimum of 3, in all probability 4, accusers, in line with Reuters.
Combs, who was once noticed in courtroom dressed in khaki pants, a grey sweater and a white collared blouse, blew a kiss to supporters on Monday at the beginning of the trial. His mom, Janice Combs, sons and 17-year-old daughters have been noticed coming into the courthouse previous within the morning to turn their beef up.
Jury variety started closing week and was once in the beginning slated to wrap up through Friday.
However, Judge Arun Subramanian, who’s presiding over the case in New York, dominated on Friday morning to push the general section of jury variety to Monday, because of issues that jurors may drop out over the weekend.
Two possible jurors have been got rid of closing week for no longer having believe in police and since one in all their spouse’s as soon as labored on an unrelated Combs courtroom case 3 a long time in the past, respectively, in line with the BBC.
The court cases are happening on the federal district courtroom in decrease Manhattan. Due to federal courtroom rules, the trial is probably not televised.