Latest news with #Combs-directed
eNCA
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- eNCA
Sean 'Diddy' Combs acquitted of sex trafficking, convicted on lesser charge
NEW YORK - Music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs was found not guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking on Wednesday but convicted of a less serious prostitution charge after a high-profile seven-week trial in New York. The jury, after 13 hours of deliberation over three days, found Combs guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Combs, 55, smiled and looked relieved as the verdict was read out. He shook hands with one of his lawyers and said "thank you" to members of the eight-man, four-woman jury as they left the courtroom. Judge Arun Subramanian also thanked the jury for their service before dismissing them. "You listened, you worked together, you were here every day, rain or shine," he said. "You did so with no reward, other than the reward that comes from answering the call of public service." The verdict came at the end of a trial in which prosecutors had accused Combs of being the boss of a decades-long criminal group who directed loyal employees and bodyguards to commit myriad offences at his behest. The alleged crimes included forced labour, drug distribution, kidnapping, bribery, witness tampering and obstruction and arson. To find Combs guilty of racketeering, jurors needed to find the existence of a criminal enterprise and that the organisation committed at least two of the offences. Jurors announced a partial verdict late Tuesday and said they were deadlocked on the racketeering charge but Judge Arun Subramanian instructed them to keep working. Combs, once one of the most powerful figures in the music industry, had vehemently denied all charges. - 'Untouchable' - Jurors began deliberating on Monday after the judge read them nearly three hours of instructions on how to apply the mountain of evidence and testimony in the case to the law. The trial included at times disturbing testimony along with thousands of pages of phone, financial and audiovisual records. Combs was charged with sex trafficking two women: singer Casandra Ventura and a woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane. Both were in long-term relationships with the entrepreneur and hip hop powerhouse, and they each testified about abuse, threats and coercive sex in wrenching detail. They both said they felt obligated to participate in Combs-directed sexual marathons with hired men. Combs's lawyers insisted the sex was consensual. They conceded domestic violence was a feature of his relationships -- one harrowing example of him beating and dragging Ventura was caught on security footage that has been widely publicised. Yet while disturbing, that did not amount to sex trafficking, the defence said. But prosecutors in their final argument tore into Combs's team, who they said had "contorted the facts endlessly." "In his mind he was untouchable," prosecutor Maurene Comey told the court. "The defendant never thought that the women he abused would have the courage to speak out loud about what he had done to them."
NDTV
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Sean 'Diddy' Combs Acquitted Of Sex-Trafficking, Found Guilty Of Prostitution
Music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs was found not guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking on Wednesday but convicted of a less serious prostitution charge after a high-profile seven week trial in New York. The jury, after 13 hours of deliberation over three days, found Combs guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Combs, 55, smiled and looked relieved as the verdict was read out. He shook hands with one of his lawyers and said "thank you" to members of the eight-man four-woman jury as they left the courtroom. Judge Arun Subramanian also thanked the jury for their service before dismissing them. "You listened, you worked together, you were here every day, rain or shine," he said. "You did so with no reward, other than the reward that comes from answering the call of public service." The verdict came at the end of a trial in which prosecutors had accused Combs of being the boss of a decades-long criminal group who directed loyal employees and bodyguards to commit myriad offenses at his behest. The alleged crimes included forced labor, drug distribution, kidnapping, bribery, witness tampering and obstruction and arson. To find Combs guilty of racketeering, jurors needed to find the existence of a criminal enterprise and that the organization committed at least two of the offenses. Jurors announced a partial verdict late Tuesday and said they were deadlocked on the racketeering charge but Judge Arun Subramanian instructed them to keep working. Combs, once one of the most powerful figures in the music industry, had vehemently denied all charges. - 'Untouchable' - Jurors began deliberating on Monday after the judge read them nearly three hours of instructions on how to apply the mountain of evidence and testimony in the case to the law. The trial included at-times disturbing testimony along with thousands of pages of phone, financial and audiovisual records. Combs was charged with sex trafficking two women: singer Casandra Ventura and a woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane. Both were in long-term relationships with the entrepreneur and hip hop powerhouse, and they each testified about abuse, threats and coercive sex in wrenching detail. They both said they felt obligated to participate in Combs-directed sexual marathons with hired men. Combs's lawyers insisted the sex was consensual. They conceded domestic violence was a feature of his relationships -- one harrowing example of him beating and dragging Ventura was caught on security footage that has been widely publicized. Yet while disturbing, that did not amount to sex trafficking, the defense said. But prosecutors in their final argument tore into Combs's team, who they said had "contorted the facts endlessly." "In his mind he was untouchable," prosecutor Maurene Comey told the court. "The defendant never thought that the women he abused would have the courage to speak out loud what he had done to them."
Int'l Business Times
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Int'l Business Times
Combs Trial: Day Three Of Jury Debate After Partial Verdict Reached
Jurors in the trial of music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs head back into deliberations Wednesday, aiming to reach a unanimous decision on the case's most serious charge of leading a criminal organization. The New York jury of eight men and four women have already come to agreement on four of the five charges -- those that pertain to sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution -- but told the court Tuesday there were "unpersuadable opinions on both sides" concerning the first count of racketeering. That charge paints Combs as the boss of a decades-long criminal group who directed loyal employees and bodyguards to commit myriad offenses at his behest. The alleged crimes include forced labor, drug distribution, kidnapping, bribery, witness tampering and obstruction, arson, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. To find Combs guilty of racketeering, jurors would need to find the existence of a criminal enterprise and that the organization committed at least two of the offenses. Days ahead of the July Fourth holiday weekend jurors announced the partial verdict -- but Judge Arun Subramanian instructed them to keep working to complete it. He reiterated instructions that they had a duty to carefully consider the case as a team. Only jury members know the verdicts they've reached on counts two, three, four and five. Combs, once one of the most powerful figures in the music industry, vehemently denies all charges. Jurors began deliberating on Monday late morning after the judge read them nearly three hours of instructions on how to apply the mountain of evidence and testimony in the case to the law. Up until Tuesday afternoon, all the jury notes concerned legal questions, and a request for portions of testimony. The note announcing a partial verdict brought new tension to the courtroom. Legal teams scrutinized it before it was read aloud. The defense team was seen huddling around a visibly anxious Combs. He alternated between hanging his head, staring straight ahead and rubbing his temples with his hand shielding his eyes. That jurors have reached a verdict on four of the five accounts is "remarkably efficient," as defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo put it in court after the note was read aloud. The seven-week trial included at-times disturbing testimony along with thousands of pages of phone, financial and audiovisual records. Combs is charged with sex trafficking two women: singer Casandra Ventura and a woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane. Both were in long-term relationships with the entrepreneur and hip hop powerhouse, and they each testified about abuse, threats and coercive sex in wrenching detail. They both said they felt obligated to participate in Combs-directed sexual marathons with hired men. Combs's lawyers insist that sex was consensual. They concede domestic violence was a feature of his relationships -- one harrowing example of him beating and dragging Ventura was caught on security footage that has been widely publicized. Yet while disturbing, that doesn't amount to sex trafficking, the defense says. But prosecutors in their final argument tore into Combs's team, who they said had "contorted the facts endlessly." "In his mind he was untouchable," prosecutor Maurene Comey told the court. "The defendant never thought that the women he abused would have the courage to speak out loud what he had done to them." D'Lila Combs (L), and Chance Combs (R), daughters of Sean 'Diddy' Combs, depart federal court as the jury continues deliberations in their father's federal criminal trial AFP The highly publicized charges against Sean Combs could see the one-time rap producer and global superstar spend the rest of his life in prison AFP
