The hip-hop mogul is charged with sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
This story may contain accounts and descriptions of actual or alleged events that some readers may find disturbing.
This is week six of testimony in the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs.
The highly anticipated trial of hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs has reached an end.
The jury found Sean Combs not guilty of racketeering conspiracy, the most serious charge.
The jury found Combs guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution (in connection with his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura) and guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution (in connection with his ex-girlfriend who testified under the pseudonym "Jane").
He was found not guilty of both charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion in connection with Ventura and "Jane."
Combs was accused of being the ringleader of an alleged enterprise that "abused, threatened and coerced women" into prolonged, drug-fueled sexual orgies with male prostitutes, which he called "freak-offs," and then threatened them into silence. Combs has said that all of the sex was consensual and that while his relationships sometimes involved domestic violence, he wasn't engaged in trafficking.
Combs' lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said Combs was simply part of the swinger lifestyle and that he "vehemently denies the accusations made by the SDNY."
“We have a sick juror,” Judge Arun Subramanian announced after he took the bench Wednesday.
The juror has “vertigo symptoms,” the judge said. “I don’t think there’s any way for us to proceed today.”
The parties are discussing the issue in a sidebar.
Judge Arun Subramanian closed the courtroom to discuss a potential issue with one of the jurors. He did not retake the bench so the issue for now remains unresolved, at least publicly.
The defense used the cross-examination of U.S. Attorney's Office Special Agent DeLeassa Penland to present messages in which they contend former Sean Combs girlfriend Cassie Ventura appears enthusiastic about "freak-off" sexual encounters or entices Combs with suggestive talk.
“I bought the sexiest outfits for later,” one message from October 2012 said. “I’ve been really horny,” a message a few months later said.
In another message, from December 2012, Ventura promised “I’ll be the nastiest freak b----.”
Ventura once texted Combs about a role-play game, according to the messages. “The game starts at 10 p.m. no texting after this,” the message said. “I am not Cassie and you are not Sean.”
The defense has argued that Ventura's participation in the sexual encounters that Combs desired was consensual and not coerced, as the prosecution claims. Ventura previously testified that she was an unwilling participant and was texting Combs what she knew he wanted to hear.
On re-direct examination, prosecutor Emily Johnson returned to the caught-on-camera attack on Ventura by Combs at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles, showing the jury a message Combs sent to Ventura five days later, which read “Baby, I can’t say it enough. I AM SO SORRY!!!!!”
The jury saw Ventura’s response. “I still have crazy bruising from Friday,” her reply message said. “Nothing good comes out of ["freak-offs"] anymore. You treat me like Ike Turner.”
Penland is off the witness stand.
Court has adjourned for the day. Testimony will resume Wednesday with former Combs associate Brendan Paul scheduled to take the stand.
With U.S. Attorney's Office Special Agent DeLeassa Penland under cross-examination, the defense played long excerpts of "freak-off" videos that were taken from former Sean Combs girlfriend Cassie Ventura’s laptop.
Combs, jurors and lawyers donned headphones and video monitors in the gallery went dark as the videos were played. For a moment, some of the sound bled through before the courtroom made an adjustment.
It is not clear what the clips showed but they were longer than the brief excerpts the jury saw Monday during direct examination.
Defense attorney Teny Geragos has previously downplayed what’s depicted on the videos.
“These videos, we believe, are powerful evidence that the sexual conduct in this case was consensual and not based on coercion,” Geragos said during her opening statement.
