Diddy lawyer mocks prosecution over baby oil evidence
Lawyers for Sean 'Diddy' Combs have mocked the prosecution for presenting bottles of baby oil as evidence that he engaged in sex trafficking during their closing arguments at his New York trial.
The music mogul's legal team claimed the prosecution 'badly exaggerated' evidence of Combs's swinger lifestyle combined with his recreational drug use in order to confect a racketeering conspiracy charge that could put him behind bars for life.
Marc Agnifilo, defending, derided the prosecutors who seized hundreds of bottles of Astroglide lubricant and baby oil from Combs's property, telling the Manhattan court: 'Way to go, fellas.'
'He [Combs] did not do the things he's charged with. He didn't do racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking,' he said as he began a presentation expected to last several hours.
Combs, a three-time Grammy winner, is accused of using his fame to create an empire of exploitation, coercing women into abusive sex parties while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and beatings.
Combs has pleaded not guilty on all charges.
Cassie Ventura, R&B singer and Combs's ex-girlfriend, was the prosecution's primary witness, and told the court she was forced to take part in 'hundreds' of drug-fuelled orgies with male escorts that could last as long as four days. She also accused him of rape.
Mr Agnifilo called Combs's prosecution a 'fake trial' and ridiculed the notion that he engaged in racketeering.
'Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?' Mr Agnifilo asked. 'Did any witness get on that witness stand and say, 'yes, I was part of a racketeering enterprise – I engaged in racketeering?''
Mr Agnifilo told jurors that those accusations were a figment of the prosecution's imagination.
Referring to lawsuits filed by Combs's accusers, he said: 'This isn't about crime. It's about money. This is about money.'
Mr Agnifilo noted that Ventura, who was Combs's girlfriend of nearly 11 years – sued him and settled for $20 in November 2023, triggering a federal investigation the following day.
'If you had to pick a winner in this whole thing, it's hard not to pick Cassie,' Mr Agnifilo said.
If convicted, Combs could face a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life.
He did not testify during the trial that is in its seventh week.
After Mr Agnifilo completes his closing, assistant US attorney Maurene Comey is expected to deliver a rebuttal summation before the judge reads the law to the jury. Deliberations are not expected to begin until Monday.
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