All the salacious evidence from seven weeks of the Diddy trial that guaranteed Sean Combs would WALK on charges threatening to put him away for life
In total, Combs was charged with racketeering conspiracy and two counts each of sex trafficking and transportation of individuals across state lines to engage in prostitution. The first two charges carried maximum sentences of life in prison, while the prostitution accusations may now put Combs away for up to 20 years.
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Man charged with killing former Minnesota House speaker is due back in court after delay
The man charged with killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and wounding a state senator and his wife, is due back in federal court Thursday for a hearing that was put on hold after his lawyer said his client had been unable to sleep while on suicide watch. The hearing is expected to address whether Vance Boelter should remain in custody without bail and affirm that there is probable cause to proceed with the case. He's not expected to enter a plea. Prosecutors need to secure a grand jury indictment first, before his arraignment, which is when a plea is normally entered. An unshaven Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, was wearing a green padded suicide prevention suit and orange slippers when he was brought into court last Friday. Federal defender Manny Atwal then asked Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko to continue the hearing. She said Boelter had been sleep deprived due to harsh conditions in the Sherburne County Jail, making it difficult for them to communicate. 'Your honor, I haven't really slept in about 12 to 14 days,' Boelter told the judge then. And he denied being suicidal. 'I've never been suicidal and I am not suicidal now.' Sherburne County Sheriff Joel Brott, whose jail houses both county and federal prisoners, rejected Boelter's claims of poor conditions as absurd. 'He is not in a hotel. He's in jail, where a person belongs when they commit the heinous crimes he is accused of committing," Brott said in a statement Friday. Boelter faces separate cases in federal and state court on charges of murder and attempted murder for what the state's chief federal prosecutor, Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, has called 'a political assassination' and 'a chilling attack on our democracy.' The feds are going first. Authorities say Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot to death in their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park in the early hours of June 14 by a man disguised as a police officer who was driving a fake squad car. Boelter also allegedly shot and seriously wounded state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, earlier that morning at their home in nearby Champlin. The Hoffmans are recovering, but Hortman's golden retriever, Gilbert, was seriously injured and had to be euthanized. Boelter surrendered near his home the night of June 15 after what authorities called the largest search in Minnesota history, a hunt of around 40 hours. Atwal told the court last week that Boelter had been kept in what's known as a 'Gumby suit,' without undergarments, ever since his first court appearance June 16. She said the lights were on in his area 24 hours a day, doors slammed frequently, the inmate in the next cell would spread feces on the walls, and the smell would drift to Boelter's cell. The attorney said transferring him to segregation instead, and giving him a normal jail uniform, would let him get some sleep, restore some dignity, and let him communicate better. The judge granted the delay. Boelter's lawyers have declined to comment on the charges themselves, which could carry the federal death penalty. Thompson has said no decision has been made whether to seek it. Minnesota abolished its death penalty in 1911. But Attorney General Pam Bondi has said from the start that the Trump administration will be more aggressive in seeking capital punishment. Prosecutors allege Boelter also stopped at the homes of two other Democratic lawmakers. They also say he listed dozens of other Democrats as potential targets, including officials in other states. Friends described Boelter as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views. But prosecutors have declined so far to speculate on a motive. Former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris joined the mourners at the Hortmans' funeral last Saturday. Gov. Tim Walz, Harris's running mate on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket, eulogized Hortman as 'the most consequential speaker in Minnesota history.' Hortman served as speaker from 2019 until January. She then yielded the post to a Republican in a power-sharing deal after the House became tied in the 2024 elections, and became speaker emerita.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Bangladesh tribunal sentences Hasina to jail for contempt over a claim she had a license to kill
A special tribunal has sentenced Bangladesh's former leader Sheikh Hasina to six months in jail after she was found in contempt of court for allegedly claiming she had a license to kill at least 227 people. Wednesday's sentence was the first in any case against Hasina since she fled to India during a mass uprising last year that toppled her 15-year rule. The contempt case stemmed from a leaked audio recording of a supposed phone conversation between Hasina and a leader of the student wing of her political party. A person alleged to be Hasina is heard on the audio saying: 'There are 227 cases against me, so I now have a license to kill 227 people.' The Criminal Investigation Department confirmed the audio's authenticity through forensic analysis. The recording showed Hasina's anger at the charges of murder and numerous other crimes against her under the interim administration of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, who vowed to punish Hasina and her top aides for the deaths of hundreds of people in the uprising against her. The sentencing by the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal came as a trial against her being held in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity began in June. The tribunal had ordered Hasina and her former home minister to respond by May 15. When they failed to do so, the tribunal summoned them May 25 to appear in court June 16. Later the tribunal asked for notices to be published in newspapers asking Hasina to appear. The prosecution said later neither of the suspects appeared before the court or explained their absence through a lawyer. In such circumstances, the tribunal has the authority to issue a sentence under the law. Hasina and her Awami League party had earlier criticized the tribunal and its prosecution team for their connection with political parties, especially with the Jamaat-e-Islami party. The Yunus-led government has banned the former ruling Awami League party and amended laws to allow for the party to be prosecuted for its role during the uprising. In February, the U.N. human rights office estimated that up to 1,400 people may have been killed in Bangladesh over three weeks in the crackdown on the student-led protests against Hasina, who was the country's longest serving prime minister. The tribunal was established by Hasina in 2009 to investigate and try crimes involving Bangladesh's independence war in 1971. The tribunal under Hasina tried politicians, mostly from the Jamaat-e-Islami party, for their actions during the nine-month war against Pakistan. Aided by India, Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina's father and the country's first leader.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
For Sean 'Diddy' Combs, could a lesser conviction mean a greater public rehabilitation?
For nearly two years, a nearly nonstop parade of allegations and revelations has ravaged and unraveled Sean 'Diddy' Combs' carefully cultivated reputation as an affable celebrity entrepreneur, A-list party host, Grammy-winning artist and music executive, brand ambassador and reality TV star. It culminated in a verdict Wednesday that saw Combs acquitted of the most serious sex trafficking charges, though guilty of two lesser ones. The stratospheric heights of his previous life may be impossible to regain, but the question remains whether a partial conviction could mean a partial public rehabilitation, or if too much damage has been done. 'Combs managed to avoid becoming the next R. Kelly,' said Evan Nierman, CEO and president of crisis public relations firm Red Banyan, referring to the R&B superstar convicted of similar sex trafficking charges as those that Combs beat. Combs, 55, has yet to be sentenced and faces the likelihood of prison time, but he no longer faces the prospect of spending most of the rest of his life behind bars. While the law allows for a prison sentence of up to 10 years, the lawyers in the case said in court filings that guidelines suggest a term that could be as short as 21 months or last more than five years. 'This is a very positive outcome overall for him. And it does give him an opportunity to try to rebuild his life,' Nierman said. 'It won't be the same, but at least he's likely going to be out there in the world and able to move forward.' Moving on from the jokes that 'will haunt him forever' The case had a broad reach across media that made Combs a punchline as much as a villain. Talk shows, 'Saturday Night Live' and social media posters milked it for jokes about 'freak-offs' and the voluminous amounts of baby oil he had for the sex marathons. 'There are definitely terms which have now become part of the popular lexicon that never existed pre-Diddy trial, including things like 'freak-off,'' Nierman said. "The images that were painted in the trial and some of the evidence that was introduced is going to stick with him for a long time." Danny Deraney, who has worked in crisis communications for celebrities as CEO of Deraney Public Relations, agreed. 'The jokes will haunt him forever,' Deraney said. Managing public narratives — something Combs has previously excelled at — will be essential. He could cast himself as a tough survivor who took on the feds and came out ahead, or as a contrite Christian seeking redemption, or both. 'It's a powerful thing for the hip-hop mogul to go public and brag that he beat the rap and that the feds tried to come after him and they failed,' Nierman said. 'I could definitely see him leaning into that.' Nierman said the fight 'now will become part of the Sean Combs mythology.' Combs fell to his knees and prayed in the courtroom after he was acquitted Wednesday of sex trafficking and racketeering charges. The moment by all accounts was spontaneous but could also be read as the start of a revival narrative. 'No matter what you're accused of, it's what you do to redeem yourself on the way back," Deraney said. "Is he redeemable? Those are still heavy charges he was guilty of. It's tough to say; people have had these charges hanging over their heads and were able to move on.' The long fall Combs has been behind bars since his September arrest and will remain jailed while he awaits sentencing. His long reputational fall began when his former longtime girlfriend and R&B singer Cassie, the criminal trial's key witness, sued him in November 2023, alleging years of sexual and physical abuse. He settled the next day for $20 million, but the lawsuit set off a storm of similar allegations from other women and men. Most of the lawsuits are still pending. The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie, born Casandra Ventura, has. The revelation last year of a major federal sex trafficking investigation on the day of a bicoastal raid of Combs' houses took the allegations to another level of seriousness and public knowledge. The later revelation that feds had seized 1,000 bottles of baby oil and other lubricant entered the popular culture immediately. Fellow celebrities were called out for past Diddy associations — though no others were implicated in the criminal allegations. The May 2024 leak of a video of Combs beating Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway eight years earlier was arguably just as damaging, if not more, than the initial wave of allegations. It brought a rare public apology, in an earnestly presented Instagram video two days later. Nierman called the video, shown at trial, 'something people aren't just going to forget.' Shortly after Combs' apology, New York City Mayor Eric Adams requested he return a key to the city he'd gotten at a ceremony in 2023. Howard University rescinded an honorary degree it had awarded him and ended a scholarship program in his name. He sold off his stake in Revolt, the media company he'd founded more than a decade earlier. Combs is not about to get the key, or the degree, back. But he could pick up the pieces of his reputation to salvage something from it. Deraney said it may require 'some kind of come-to-Jesus moment where he owns up to it." 'Really what it's going to come down to is if he goes to prison, will it change him?' Deraney said. 'Has he changed at all during this whole processes? I don't know.'
