Jury due to begin deliberating in Diddy’s sex trafficking trial: What to expect

NEW YORK – Jurors are expected to begin deliberating in the sex trafficking case of Sean “Diddy” Combs, weighing charges that could put the hip-hop mogul in prison for life.

What to expect

What’s next:

After receiving legal instructions from federal Judge Arun Subramanian, the jury of eight men and four women will head behind closed doors to deliberate.

They’ll sift through seven weeks of sometimes graphic and emotional testimony about the rap, fashion and reality TV impresario’s propensity for violence and his sexual predilections, including drug-fueled sex marathons dubbed “freak-offs” or “hotel nights.”

What is the ‘proof’ in the case?

Dig deeper:

Among the evidence, prosecutor Christy Slavik argued, was proof that Diddy kidnapped an employee, took part in setting rapper Kid Cudi’s car on fire, bribed a hotel guard and committed what she called the “brutal crimes at the heart of this case.”

Slavik told jurors that Diddy “again and again forced, threatened, and manipulated” his ex-girlfriends, Cassie and Jane, into having sex with escorts for his own entertainment. She delivered her closing argument from a lectern just feet from the jury box.

Jurors were once again shown the now-infamous surveillance video of Diddy hitting, kicking and dragging Cassie at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles in 2016, footage that opened the trial seven weeks ago. Slavik said the assault happened after Cassie tried to leave what she described as a “freak-off” involving a male sex worker.

“He knew exactly what he was doing. That is sex trafficking,” Slavik said, adding that Combs was “knowingly using force and coercion to get Cassie back to that room where the escort was waiting.”

Since his arrest at a Manhattan hotel last September, Combs and his legal team have maintained his innocence – though they admitted during trial that incidents of domestic violence occurred.

The backstory:

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking — relating to two of his ex-girlfriends — and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution for allegedly arranging to fly sex workers across state lines.

Combs chose not to testify, and his lawyers didn’t call any witnesses in their defense case. His attorneys elected instead to challenge the accusers’ credibility during lengthy cross-examination questioning.

In all, 34 witnesses testified, headlined by Cassie and “Jane,” who testified under a pseudonym. Both women said he often was violent toward them and forced them into hundreds of sexual encounters with paid male sex workers. 

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