Prosecutors Say a Juror Wasn't Honest — Diddy's Team Says That's Not the Real Reason They Want Him Out
The government is seeking to remove a juror in Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial, who the defense claims is among the panel's Black members
Alexandra Shapiro, one of Combs' attorneys, said the government's attempt at removing the juror is a "thinly veiled effort to dismiss a Black juror"
The trial is in its fifth weekProsecutors in Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial, which is in its fifth week, have requested that a juror be dismissed, citing "a lack of candor."
On Wednesday, June 11, the lead prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey, told U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian outside the presence of the jury that "it appeared to be a lack of candor with the court that raises serious issues with us."
'We did not want to do this," Comey said. "We were compelled to do that.'
One of Combs' attorneys, Alexandra Shapiro, said the defense opposes removing the juror and said the government's attempt at doing so is 'a thinly veiled effort to dismiss a Black juror.'
Subramanian said he would address the matter by the end of the week after he had received written submissions from both sides.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Twelve people — eight men and four women — were selected for the jury, and a half-dozen alternates. The jurors range in age from 30 to 74. Their identities are known to the judge and lawyers but won't be made public. Among the six alternates, two are women and four are men.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges.
Read the original article on People
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
American Press
37 minutes ago
- American Press
Lawmakers approve budget and teacher pay push as session wraps up
Lawmakers approve budget and teacher pay push as session wraps up Published 5:12 pm Thursday, June 12, 2025 By Anna Puleo | LSU Manship School News Service BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana House voted 98-1 Thursday to give final legislative approval to $53.5 billion budget package for the upcoming fiscal year without objecting to any of the major changes that the Senate had made earlier this week. With three hours to go in the session, lawmakers also agreed to ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment in a new attempt to fund permanent salary raises for K-12 public school teachers and support staff. Email newsletter signup Voters had rejected a long and complicated amendment in March that could have provided funding for permanent raises. Under the latest plan, voter approval could lead to salary increases of $2,250 for teachers and $1,225 for staff members. The proposed constitutional amendment would dissolve three state education trust funds and used $2 billion to pay down debt on teacher retirement plans. That would save parishes enough money to provide the raises. While waiting to see if voters approve the amendment, the state will pay stipends of $2,000 to teachers and $1,000 to support staff at K-12 schools for a third year in a row. The state budget and the new teacher pay plan both passed on the final day of a legislative session that also saw significant changes in car insurance regulation designed to lower some of the highest annual premiums in the nation. Other high-profile legislation stalled during the session. A bill to reinforce President Donald Trump's ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs at public agencies and colleges failed after the Senate declined to take it up, even as similar bans gained traction in other Republican- led states. The bill had narrowly passed the House after a lengthy debate during which Black lawmakers called it 'racially oppressive.' Gov. Jeff Landry's push to more than double funding for his LA GATOR private school voucher program also failed. The House had approved the $93.5 million that Landry sought to sharply increase the number of families that could use public funds to send their children to private schools. During the session, the Senate limited funding on the vouchers to $43.5 million, and the House acquiesced. That funding will allow students already enrolled in private schools under the similar program to stay there, but there will not be any money for new families to join, as Landry had envisioned. Lawmakers approved another national conservative priority — the 'Make America Healthy Again' efforts led by Trump and health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The bill bans ultra-processed ingredients, such as artificial dyes and synthetic additives, in meals served in schools that receive state funding, starting in the 2027-28 school year. All bills that passed now go to Landry for his approval or veto. The budget bill would take effect on July 1. The governor has the power to veto individual items in it. As part of the budget, lawmakers agreed to spend $1.2 billion in one-time money from the state's Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund–which collects corporate and severance taxes — on transportation projects, economic development, water system upgrades, college maintenance and criminal justice infrastructure. They also approved using $1.1 billion in extra cash for short-term needs like infrastructure projects, debt payments and deposits into state savings accounts. That total includes last year's surplus, additional general fund dollars recognized by the state's revenue forecasting panel, and unspent agency money, either because fewer people used certain programs or agencies found other ways to cover costs. The stipends for the K-12 teachers and support workers will cost $199 million. The Senate also restored $30 million for high-dose tutoring programs that had been cut in the House's version. Legislative leaders were reluctant to expand spending in other areas, like for Landry's signature voucher plan to pay for more students to go to private schools. Some lawmakers are concerned that potential cuts in federal Medicaid spending and federal disaster-relief could force the state to absorb hundreds of millions in additional costs. The House approved a resolution on Thursday by Appropriations Chair Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, urging Congress not to cut Medicaid funding in a way that would hurt the state. Legislators from rural areas also expressed concern that expanding private school vouchers could eventually cut into support for public school district. Some lawmakers noted that the final level of spending on the LA GATOR program was not a cut but rather keeping funding flat. 'We always use the word cut,' Rep. Eric Tarver, R- Lake Charles, said. 'When really we mean it just isn't an increase.' The Legislature also passed a supplemental spending bill for the current fiscal year with about $130 million, mostly in lawmakers' earmarks for projects in their districts. Taking steps to try to bring down auto insurance rates was another major focus during the session. Landry signed a package aimed at lowering premiums by limiting certain lawsuits and increasing oversight of insurers. However, on Wednesday, he vetoed Senate Bill 111, which would have restricted when policyholders can sue insurers for bad faith. Landry said the bill risked making it easier for companies to deny claims, leaving policyholders with fewer options to challenge delays, especially after major disasters. Landry had said at the start of the session that he was seeking a balanced approach in trying to cut rates. He also persuaded lawmakers to give the insurance commissioner more power to block companies from charging auto insurance rates that appeared excessive. Featured Local Savings
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Tulane scientist resigns, citing ‘gag order' on environmental justice research
Environmental advocates are questioning the actions of a private university in Louisiana following the resignation of a scientist who researches the health and job disparities in a heavily industrialized part of Louisiana known as 'Cancer Alley.' Kimberly Terrell, who served as a director of community engagement and a staff scientist with Tulane University's Environmental Law Clinic, accused university leaders of trying to censor the work she's doing to spotlight the harms to local communities plagued by industrial pollution. Terrell said her research in collaboration with Floodlight highlighting job disparities in hiring at local petrochemical facilities triggered a backlash from state and university leaders. That led to her being put under an ''unprecedented gag order' by the dean of the university's law school, Terrell said in a prepared statement issued by a group calling itself the Louisiana Alliance to Defend Democracy. Terrell resigned from the New Orleans-based university on Wednesday, saying she would rather leave her position than have her work used as a pretext 'to dismantle' the law clinic. 'After being affiliated with Tulane for 25 years and leading groundbreaking research at (the law clinic) for seven years, I cannot remain silent as this university sacrifices academic integrity for political appeasement and pet projects,' Terrell wrote in a letter to her colleagues. On Thursday, a university spokesperson said Tulane is 'fully committed to academic freedom' and 'the strong pedagogical value of law clinics.' Tulane declined to comment on Terrell's resignation, calling it a personnel matter. 'Debates about how best to operate law clinics' teaching mission have occurred nationally and at Tulane for years — this is nothing new,' the university said. 'We have been working with the leadership of the law school for the past several years to better understand how the clinics can most effectively support the university's education mission.' Kate Kelly, spokesperson for Gov. Jeff Landry, said in an email that the governor never threatened to withhold state funding for the project. 'However,' she said, 'I applaud Tulane for their actions standing up for our Louisiana businesses and jobs.' Terrell's resignation is drawing outrage from grassroots environmental advocates in the state who credited her with providing data and scientific research substantiating the harm from the petrochemical industry suffered by the predominantly Black communities in southeast Louisiana. 'It's appalling,' said Jo Banner, who co-founded a nonprofit focused on community activism and cultural preservation in St. John the Baptist Parish. 'We are frustrated that a person who is just doing their job, and doing it well shouldn't be punished for it, she would be uplifted,' Banner said. Her twin sister and co-founder, Joy Banner, added: 'I cried at what is being done to someone who is so committed to just helping people, and doing right, and giving people access to objective information … that she is being penalized and censored so much. This is an attack on her freedom of speech.' An April 25 email provided to Floodlight from Tulane Law School Dean Marcilynn Burke states that 'effective immediately all external communications' from the law clinic that were not 'client based' would have to be approved by her. That communication included 'press releases, interviews, videos, social media postings, etc.' In another email, dated May 4, Burke noted that the job disparity research was impeding the university from gaining political and financial support for its $600 million downtown redevelopment project in New Orleans. The email said Tulane University President Michael Fitts was facing criticism from elected officials and potential donors of the public-private project unless the university's leadership curtailed the work of its environmental law clinic. 'At present, the president is focused upon the role of the staff scientist,' Burke wrote. 'He understands her role in supporting the clinic's representation of the clients. Thus, I need an explanation of how the study about racial disparities relates directly to client representation." The email goes on to say, 'He is concerned, however, that her work may go beyond supporting the clinic's legal representation and veer into lobbying.' Floodlight reported on the research Terrell led for the university in April 2024 while it was still undergoing peer review. Preliminary data showed that minorities were being 'systematically' underrepresented in the U.S. petrochemical workforce — despite promises that nearby communities would benefit from better job opportunities. Terrell said the pollution vs. jobs narrative was oversimplified because the tradeoff affected different groups unevenly, with petrochemical jobs mostly going to white workers who don't live in the predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods that suffer most of the health impacts of that industry. That research and Floodlight's reporting was recently featured in a documentary produced by The YEARS Project. Nationally, Terrell's research found that higher paying jobs in the chemical manufacturing industry disproportionately went to more white people in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia where minorities represent 59%, 41% and 49% of their respective states' populations but held 38%, 21% and 28% of the better paid jobs within the industry. In the petroleum/coal industry, people of color were underrepresented in higher-paying jobs in at least 14 states — including Texas, California, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois, the research found. Terrell, in her letter to colleagues, said the gag order came after the research had been peer reviewed and published online on April 9 in Ecological Economics. Terrell said the research on job disparities has already been cited in legal arguments for student attorneys in the law clinic on behalf of clients from industrialized communities. And she said her 2022 study highlighting the health impacts in Cancer Alley ranks in the top 1% for research impact, garnering 28 citations and 87 news mentions to date, according to Almetric, which tracks the reach of research. 'Such impact would be celebrated by most institutions,' Terrell wrote. 'Scholarly publications, not gag orders, are the currency of academia. There is always room for informed debate. But Tulane leaders have chosen to abandon the principles of knowledge, education, and the greater good in pursuit of their own narrow agenda.' The Banner sisters are concerned Terrell's departure and the university's focus on restricting the work of the law clinic will likely make collaborations harder going forward. 'They're following their responsibility, they're following the mission of the organization, and answering our call for help, and then now they're getting slammed for it,' Joy Banner said. 'The foundation the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic has already built, they can't tear that down. No one has questioned her findings. No one has questioned her assumptions. The only thing that they have said is: The truth is creating problems for us.' Floodlight is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powers stalling climate action.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
California Sen. Alex Padilla Forced to the Ground and Handcuffed for Asking Question at Homeland Security Event: Watch
California Sen. Alex Padilla was physically removed then handcuffed during a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, June 12. He was quickly escorted out of the room after attempting to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a question. Noem, 53, was holding a press conference to address the ongoing protests against President Donald Trump's immigration policies and the administration's aggressive response. Padilla — who succeeded Kamala Harris in 2021 to become California's first Latino senator — has been an outward Trump critic and directed a recent post on X at the federal immigration raids in Los Angeles. 'Trump isn't targeting criminals in his mass deportation agenda," he wrote, "he is terrorizing communities, breaking apart families and putting American citizens in harm's way.' Video footage that quickly circulated online on Thursday shows officers dragging Padilla out of the room and into the hallway after he says, 'I am Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary.' The footage then captures Padilla, 52, pushed down with his face against the ground and handcuffed by officers wearing FBI vests. Padilla can be heard saying, 'Hands off!' during the incident. Padilla's office issued a statement shortly afterward, saying, 'He tried to ask the Secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground, and handcuffed.' The office also clarified to the public that he was not still being held by authorities. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer. Padilla later released his own statement, saying, "We have repeatedly asked the Trump Administration for answers on the deployment of military forces and the needless escalation in Los Angeles over the last week — and have gotten limited to no information." "I attended Secretary Noem's press conference in hopes of getting some answers," he continued. "After identifying myself and trying to ask a question, I was aggressively pushed out of the room, forced to the ground, and handcuffed." Padilla concluded: "If that's what they do to a United States Senator with a question, imagine what they can do to any American that dares to speak up." The Department of Homeland Security responded to backlash from the video on X, saying, "Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem. Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers' repeated commands. Various politicians and members of his community have voiced their support for Senator Padilla. California Gov. Gavin Newsom shared the video on X, calling this incident 'outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful.' He continued saying, 'Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now.' The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which Padilla belongs to, called the situation "unacceptable, full stop' and demanded 'a full investigation and consequences for every official involved in this assault against a sitting US senator." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X, 'Watching this video sickened my stomach, the manhandling of a United States Senator, Senator Padilla.' 'We need immediate answers to what the hell went on,' Schumer added. Read the original article on People
