Jury selection continues Tuesday in the sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs, the 55-year-old hip-hop mogul who has spent the last seven months in a Brooklyn jail after being indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution.
He has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, Combs could face life in prison.
Several dozen potential jurors were questioned Monday by Judge Arun Subramanian, the prosecution and the defense to determine whether they're qualified to serve on the 12-member panel. Nineteen were deemed to be qualified, but none were seated.
Prospective jurors were given a list of more than 100 people whose names may come up during the trial, including Michael B. Jordan, Mike Myers and Kanye West. None have been implicated in the case.
Combs was in the courtroom for jury selection. When the defense asked Subramanian for a bathroom break, Combs apologized to the judge.
"I'm sorry, your honor, I'm a little nervous today," he said.
What has Diddy been accused of?
According to the indictment, Combs — also known as "Puff Daddy," "P. Diddy," and "Diddy" — "abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct."
It contains a litany of shocking allegations, claiming that for decades, Combs used his business empire to conduct “freak offs,” drug-fueled sex performances in which women were allegedly coerced to participate.
The Bad Boy Records founder is accused of arranging, directing and masturbating during these “freak offs,” which he would often record, sometimes unbeknownst to the victims. The “freak offs” would last for days with multiple sex workers involved.
Combs allegedly distributed drugs — including ketamine, ecstasy, GHB, psilocybin and methamphetamine — to the victims to keep them “obedient and compliant.” After the days-long sex sessions, Combs and the victims “typically received IV fluids to recover from the physical exertion,” the indictment states.
Combs’s employees allegedly arranged for the sex workers to cross state lines. They’d also allegedly book hotels, stock rooms with “freak off supplies,” including “more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant” and arrange for travel for victims. The recordings Combs made of the “freak offs” were used as collateral to ensure the “silence of the victims,” according to the indictment.
The indictment also alleges that Combs used guns, kidnapping and arson to control his victims.
Who were his alleged victims?
No victims were identified by name in the indictment, but allegations involving "Victim-1" appear to align with a March 2016 incident in which Combs was recorded on surveillance video hitting, kicking and throwing a vase at then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel.
In a separate incident outlined in the indictment, Combs allegedly "dangled a victim over an apartment balcony."
Who are Combs’s lawyers?
Combs’s legal team is led by veteran criminal defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo, who has experience in high-profile cases, having previously represented NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere and “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli, among others.
Combs's other lawyers include Teny Geragos, Alexandra Shapiro and Brian Steel, who represented rapper Young Thug in a racketeering case in Georgia and was the subject of a recent New Yorker profile.
What will they argue?
At a pre-trial hearing last month, Agnifilo offered a preview of his defense, arguing Combs was engaged in a "swinger" lifestyle, and that the sexual behavior was consensual, even "common."
"There's a lifestyle, call it swingers or whatever you will, that he thought was appropriate because it was common," Agnifilo said in court. "Many people think it's appropriate because it's common.”
Agnifilo also argued that the incident captured on video with Ventura was not evidence of trafficking but of an isolated domestic dispute.
"It's our defense to these charges that this was a toxic, loving 11-year relationship," Agnifilo said.
He had previously called the prosecution of Combs “unjust.”
“He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal,” Agnifilo said in a statement following his indictment. “He looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Also read: Ask an attorney: A federal criminal defense lawyer breaks down the Diddy trial
Who are the prosecutors?
A team of eight U.S. attorneys are arguing the case for the government, including Emily Johnson, Madison Smyser, Mary Slavik, Meredith Foster and Mitzi Steiner, who are listed as the lead lawyers on the docket.
The prosecution team also features Maurene Ryan Comey, daughter of former FBI Director James Comey. In 2022, she helped secure a conviction against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse underage girls. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Who is the judge?
The judge overseeing the trial is Arun Subramanian, who was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by then-President Joe Biden in 2022 and confirmed by the Senate in 2023.
He is the first judge of South Asian descent to serve on the court’s bench.
Subramanian, a Columbia Law School graduate who clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was a partner at the Manhattan law firm Susman Godfrey, where he specialized in commercial and bankruptcy law.
The Diddy case is believed to be his highest profile trial yet.
Who is expected to testify?
It is unclear exactly who will take the stand as witnesses at trial. Cassie Ventura, Combs's ex-girlfriend — whose explosive 2023 lawsuit was the first of dozens of civil suits against him — is expected to testify for the prosecution, according to People magazine.
NBC News reported that prosecutors are also expected to call Dawn Hughes, a forensic psychologist who testified at R. Kelly's federal trial and at the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial. She's also expected to testify in Harvey Weinstein's retrial on sexual assault and rape charges.
Who else will be in the courtroom?
Members of Combs’s family, including his mother, Janice Combs, and his sons, have appeared at pretrial hearings in support of him.
Will the trial be televised?
No. The trial will not be televised, as broadcasting of federal court proceedings is generally prohibited.
How long is the trial supposed to last?
The trial is expected to last eight to 10 weeks, with opening statements scheduled for May 12.
