Sean ‘Diddy' Combs ‘might be cooked' on key sex crime charge, experts say, as jury preps for deliberation
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial came to a close after seven weeks on Friday as the rapper's defense team and prosecution completed closing arguments.
Both sides saw wins and losses throughout the trial, but experts claimed Diddy 'might be cooked' on one specific charge as the jury prepares to deliberate. After his arrest in September 2024, the 'Last Night' singer was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Former Danity Kane singer and Diddy protégé, Aubrey O'Day, has been following the trial and isn't sure what the outcome will be. While she personally believes the rapper is 'guilty of all the charges,' the musician isn't sold on the prosecution's case in court.
'The rational, justice side of me that leads a good amount of what I do nowadays says the answer should be what was proven by the prosecution, the law, and that's conflicting to what I want personally,' she told Extra.
5 The jury is about to deliberate on Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial.
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5 Experts claimed Diddy 'might be cooked' on one specific charge.
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She noted: 'I don't know if the prosecution proved [Diddy's crimes] without a doubt, though.'
During closing arguments, prosecutors argued that Diddy ran an alleged criminal enterprise with full control. They pointed out that the jury heard testimony, saw texts, viewed bank records and heard audio showing the rapper committing crime after crime for decades. According to the prosecution, the government showed that Diddy didn't take no for an answer. Up until today, Diddy was able to get away with crime because of his money and power, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Slavik said. 'That stops now.'
Here's where experts say things stand for each charge against Diddy with the jury about to deliberate.
5 Sean 'Diddy' Combs listens as prosecutor Maurene Comey makes her closing arguments during Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City.
REUTERS
Transportation to Engage in Prostitution
As to the transportation to engage in prostitution charge, an expert told Fox News Digital, Diddy might be in trouble.
'The sex workers were very clear about their role and their purpose for being transported across state lines; it was for sex and not something else,' criminal defense attorney Eric Faddis explained. 'Diddy might be cooked on this charge.'
However, the defense did find a way to show the jury a different explanation in an attempt to undermine the government's argument. 'Defense got an employee of one of the companies to say that Diddy was just buying the escorts' time and not any sexual performance, which the jury could use as a basis to acquit Diddy on the transportation charges,' Faddis, a founding partner of Colorado-based Varner Faddis, said.
5 Evidence photos depict Diddy's collection of lingerie.
Department of Justice
'Diddy might be cooked on this charge.' Eric Faddis, criminal defense attorney
Racketeering Conspiracy
The jury is unlikely to find Diddy not guilty of racketeering, criminal defense attorney John W. Day told Fox News Digital.
'The only thing Diddy and his team can hope for is a miracle where the jurors don't buy the government's claim that this was racketeering and that Diddy was the head of a criminal empire dedicated to fulfilling his desires,' the founder of New Mexico-based law practice, John Day Law, explained. 'A defense win is more likely if the jurors are conflicted on the racketeering charges and can't reach a unanimous verdict. That could lead to a hung jury on one or more of the charges. But the jurors spent the entire trial waiting to see how Diddy's lawyers rebutted the massive case against him, and they merely rested without putting on any witnesses. That leaves the jury picking through the government's case to see if this really rises to racketeering, and if not, they may hang or acquit on some of the charges – but it's unlikely.'
5 'The only thing Diddy and his team can hope for is a miracle where the jurors don't buy the government's claim that this was racketeering,' John Day Law, founder of a New Mexico-based law practice, said.
REUTERS
According to the legal expert, the prosecution 'presented overwhelming evidence' that Diddy 'presided over this little kingdom of criminal activity designed to make him happy – and made a compelling case to the jury that this met all the elements of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation for prostitution.'
'The prosecution can withstand an acquittal or a hung jury on some of the counts, but the prosecutors really need a conviction for racketeering to claim total victory,' Day added. 'Again, that can be a difficult charge to convict on if the jurors don't buy the theory that this entire business empire was engaged in sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. But the defense needed to have convinced at least one juror that the case wasn't there, and that witnesses were lying to save their own necks. And that's a tough sell to a jury that spent weeks listening to horrific testimony about Diddy and his empire.'
Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud or Coercion
Things aren't as clear-cut on the sex trafficking charge, one expert told Fox News Digital. Diddy was accused of sex trafficking two of his ex-girlfriends, Cassie Ventura and Jane, who testified under a pseudonym. The prosecution claimed the rapper transported both women across state lines and then forced them to have sex with male escorts while he watched.
'On cross-examination, both Cassie and Jane admitted to willingly participating in some of the 'freak offs,' which could cause the jurors to wonder if all of the romantic encounters may have been consensual,' Faddis noted.
'Both Cassie and Jane admitted to voluntarily ingesting drugs before the 'freak offs,' which may undercut the prosecution's coercion argument.'
The criminal defense attorney did note that Cassie and Jane both gave 'compelling, evocative testimony detailing physical abuse and financial coercion.'
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