MSNBC panelists pin Diddy's not guilty verdicts on white 'Barbie' prosecutors
A jury on Wednesday shockingly cleared Diddy of three of the most serious charges - for racketeering and sex trafficking - while convicting him of two lesser charges relating to prostitution.
Following the verdict, legal commentator Lisa Rubin argued on Ana Cabrera Reports that the 'racial dynamics' of the all-white, all-female prosecutors played to Diddy's advantage.
'I think both the gender and the racial dynamics are worth talking about,' Rubin said, before recalling how she was struck by seeing the prosecutors near the courthouse this spring.
'I saw all six of the prosecutors on this team walk from their office... And they filed in a single-file line. And they are all white women, to a person - six of them.
'And they almost look like lawyer Barbies proceeding as they were walking to the court.'
'It's not lost on me that particularly given who the defendant was, and in a jury that not only was mixed by gender but had, from my count, at least seven people of color on it, that that dynamic may not have gone over particularly well with them.'
Rubin added that prosecutors 'may have really turned off some of the jurors here who were looking for someone they could identify with, who were looking to someone who sounded and looked like them.'
' The defense team had those people. The defense added attorneys of color,' she continued, noting that Diddy's defense team also included men.
'An all-white, all-female prosecutorial team here may have struck some discordant notes with a jury of Sean Combs' peers.'
Fellow MSNBC legal analyst Charles Coleman agreed.
'I think that people have to understand jury dynamics when you're talking about New York or any other jurisdiction for that matter,' said the civil rights attorney and former Brooklyn prosecutor.
'You want to be able to relate to your jury and you want to think about the dynamic, the interpersonal dynamics and quite frankly, the identity dynamics.'
Coleman also talked up the defense, which he said had been composed of 'a number of other very, very, very good attorneys' on a more 'diverse spectrum.'
'And all you have on the other side is essentially a panel of white women who are talking to a very diverse jury of New Yorkers,' he added.
Diddy, meanwhile, was due back in court at 5pm local time Wednesday to hear if he can go free on bail, after spending almost a year in federal holding. He faces a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison on each of the two prostitution-related charges
Diddy, meanwhile, was due back in court at 5pm local time Wednesday to hear if he can go free on bail, after spending almost a year in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.
He faces a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison on each of the two prostitution-related charges.
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