Prosecutors drop some charges in Diddy case
(NewsNation) —Prosecutors have at the 11th hour dropped some of the charges related to their sprawling indictment of Sean 'Diddy' Combs as the government seeks to create clear instructions for the jury.
Attorneys for the Southern District of New York said they are removing instructions from the charge that relate to attempted kidnapping, attempted arson and aiding and abetting sex trafficking, according to court filings.
'The Government is no longer planning to proceed on these theories of liability so instructions are no longer necessary,' prosecutors wrote in a letter to Judge Arun Subramanian on Tuesday.
The decision does not change the charges the office brought against Combs, but simplifies which predicate acts the jury should focus on when deliberating on a verdict.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Prosecutors say they will be focusing on the forced labor and sex trafficking portions of the charge.
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act requires proof of at least two predicate acts, or criminal offenses. The predicate acts must be related and demonstrate a pattern of criminal activity connected to an enterprise.
Both prosecutors and defense attorneys rested their case in the six-week criminal trial against Sean 'Diddy' Combs on Tuesday.
Combs's defense team only introduced exhibits into evidence as their presentation, calling no witnesses to the stand. Prosecutors finished questioning their last witness, Joseph Cerciello, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, marking the end of their nearly 30-day case.
Closing arguments will begin Thursday, and the two sides will launch their last bid to sway a 12-member jury.
The two sides will be engaged in a charging conference Wednesday where they will work with the judge to hammer out final jury instructions.
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Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Diddy's sex crimes trial is winding down – and prosecutors just made a major move
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' fate will be up to the jury soon. After weeks of shocking and graphic testimony in the disgraced mogul's sex crimes trial in NYC, prosecutors rested their case on Tuesday – and Combs actually got a break. In a letter to judge Arun Subramanian, lawyers for the U.S. government narrowed the racketeering conspiracy charges, abandoning the claims of arson and kidnapping that stemmed from an alleged years-old beef with fellow rapper Kid Cudi. 'Specifically, the Government has removed instructions from the charge relating to (i) attempted kidnapping under both California and New York law, (ii) attempted arson under California law, and (iii) aiding and abetting sex trafficking,' the letter partially read. 'The Government is no longer planning to proceed on these theories of liability so instructions are no longer necessary.' Veteran trial lawyer Mark Zauderer told Forbes a possible reason for the prosecutors' 'tactical' move: They have 'not likely proven to the jury's satisfaction' how the attempted arson and kidnapping allegations bolster Comb's racketeering charge. READ MORE: The eyebrow raising things found in Diddy's hotel room the day of his arrest As for how the original charges came to be: Back in May, former Diddy assistant Capricorn Clark testified that her boss kidnapped her at gunpoint in December 2011 after Combs learned Cudi was dating his on-off again girlfriend Cassie Ventura. Clark said Diddy forced her to drive over to the hip hopper's Beverly Hills home while she waited in the car. She called Ventura as Combs and an associate entered the home of the 'Pursuit of Happiness' singer, who wasn't there. By the time Cudi found out what was happening and returned home, he claimed on the stand, his love rival was gone and his place was left in disarray. Weeks later, Cudi's Porsche was set on fire in his driveway, a scenario that star witness Ventura testified Combs threatened doing; no suspect was ever arrested. Meanwhile, Combs did not take the stand as his defense team began their closing arguments. Jury deliberations could start as soon as Monday. Among the other charges the 55 year old Harlem native still faces are possession with intent to supply, transportation to engage in prostitution, bribery and witness tampering. He has pleaded not guilty to all. READ MORE: Diddy had requirements for his 'freak-off' guests: report
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sean "Diddy" Combs Trial: Prosecutors Drop Arson, Kidnapping Theories
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Business Insider
4 hours ago
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Diddy prosecutors drop Kid Cudi-related arson and kidnapping from their racketeering case
Rapper Kid Cudi may have testified at the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial for nothing. With closing arguments a day away, federal prosecutors said Wednesday that they are narrowing their racketeering case and will no longer ask jurors to decide if Combs set fire to Kid Cudi's red Porsche in his Beverly Hills driveway in 2011. Federal prosecutors gave no specific reason for trimming the Porsche arson and two other allegations — kidnapping and aiding and abetting sex trafficking — from the list of "racketeering activities" that Diddy is charged with conspiring in. Prosecutors said only that they were being responsive to "the court's desire for streamlined instructions," a reference to the legal instructions the judge said he plans to give the jury Friday, following closing arguments scheduled for Thursday. The prosecution's plans were revealed in an eight-page letter filed Wednesday morning. Kid Cudi, given name Scott Mescudi, took the stand in May, during the second week of testimony. He described a brief 2011 romance with star prosecution witness Cassie Ventura, who was 28 at the time. Combs flew into a jealous rage over the romance, Mescudi and other witnesses said. "Get dressed — we're going to go kill" Mescudi, a former Combs executive, Capricorn Clark, testified Combs demanded, while referring to the other artist using a racial slur. Clark said Combs was banging on her front door and waving a gun at the time. Mescudi told jurors that he and Combs were never violent with each other directly. He testified, however, that he believed Combs broke into his house, shut his dog in the bathroom, and unwrapped his Christmas presents he intended to give his family. Mescudi also said he believes Combs was responsible for firebombing his Porsche with a Molotov cocktail. "What the fuck," Mescudi said with an embarrassed smile when asked by the prosecution to describe his reaction to seeing his torched car in the driveway of his Hollywood Hills house. On cross-examination, Mescudi said he had no direct knowledge that anyone affiliated with Combs was involved with the never-solved arson. The deep cut to the list of racketeering activities leaves the indictment listing six alleged racketeering activities. They are bribery, tampering with witnesses, forced labor, transportation for purposes of prostitution, inducement for purposes of prostitution, and distributing and possessing narcotics. Jurors must come to a unanimous agreement on two crimes on that list, finding that Combs and others in his music and lifestyle company, Combs Global, agreed to commit those crimes as part of a pattern of racketeering activity. The cuts follow arguments in court on Tuesday, during which Combs' attorney Alexandra Shapiro described the weaknesses that defense lawyers see in the prosecution's case. "The government has failed to prove the elements of the racketeering conspiracy charged in the indictment," Shapiro began. Racketeering conspiracy carries a potential maximum sentence of life in prison. "There is, at best, thin proof that any of the other employees knowingly participated in the crimes with, or for, Mr. Combs, other than things like picking up or helping Mr. Combs procure personal use quantities of drugs for himself," she argued. There was scant evidence showing that employees knowingly agreed with Combs to commit crimes, she said. "Most of the testimony about the employees shows that they ran errands related to his personal life, made travel arrangements for him and his girlfriends, and the like," she said. Shapiro then picked apart the underlying crimes, one by one, including the kidnapping, arson, and sex-trafficking crimes that prosecutors edited from the indictment Wednesday. She said there was no direct evidence linking Combs to the arson. "Neither Capricorn Clark nor Cassie Ventura nor Mr. Mescudi witnessed the arson or put Mr. Combs at Mr. Mescudi's residence at the relevant time," Shapiro argued. As for sex-trafficking, there was likewise no proof that Combs' employees believed anything illegal might have been going on with Ventura and "Jane," the second sex-trafficking accuser, Shapiro argued. So there was no proof of an enterprise — or "racket" — aiding in sex trafficking, she said. Shapiro also criticized the government's kidnapping accusations, which allege in part that Combs forced Clark, his former executive, to go to Mescudi's house to "kill" him. The defense has argued that while Combs may have had a gun, it was never pointed at Clark.
