Latest news with #Geragos
International Business Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- International Business Times
Who Is Teny Geragos? Glamorous Nepo Baby Defending Diddy is Expert in Handing Sexual Misconduct Cases as Her Famous Father's Clients Are Revealed
Sean 'Diddy' Combs has entrusted his defense to a millennial attorney, the daughter of a famous lawyer who has defended several celebrities—and who, just this week, secured a reduced sentence for the infamous Menendez brothers, Erik and Lyle. So who is this glamorous young lawyer defending Diddy, and how is she doing all that? Teny Geragos, 34, gained widespread attention in the legal world for her unconventional approach to defending Diddy's innocence, as she used TikTok and primetime television as her platforms. Last September, after the music mogul was arrested and charged with sex trafficking in New York City, she began posting a series of short, one-minute videos online. Iron Lady Inside Courtroom Geragos has said in interviews that "misinformation spreads" online, and she has used social media to challenge Diddy's accusers and what she described as a "series of false claims" made "in the hopes of trying to get a payday." Now that Diddy's trial is underway, the Loyola Law School alum is back in the spotlight. With nearly ten years of experience defending people accused of sexual assault, harassment, and other misconduct—as her firm proudly highlights—representing Diddy in one of the most high-profile trials in recent history marks a major milestone in her career. Geragos is a founding partner at Agnifilo Intrater LLP, where she works alongside seasoned defense attorney Marc Agnifilo, known for representing prominent figures. Often referred to as the "glamorous TikTok lawyer," she also shares a close bond with her father, Mark Geragos, a prominent attorney whose career likely inspired her own path in criminal defense. In 2021, she married her college sweetheart, Ashwinn Krishnaswamy, in a lavish summer wedding at her parents' Los Angeles home, styled after Paris's Jardin du Luxembourg. Geragos seems to have found her interest in the legal system early in her academic career. According to her LinkedIn profile, she earned her bachelor's degree in art history and media, culture, and communication from New York University in 2013. That same year, she began her Juris Doctor studies at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, completing the program in 2016. During law school, she gained valuable experience by serving as a judicial extern for a Supreme Court Justice in Kings County, New York. She also interned with Brooklyn Defender Services and later took on another judicial externship at a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. In 2015, she worked as a legal intern with the Legal Aid Society in the Bronx. Star in Her own Right Geragos also worked as a law clerk for both the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office and her father's firm, Geragos & Geragos, APC, where Mark Geragos is the lead attorney. Her father has defended several celebrities over the years, including Chris Brown in his assault case involving Rihanna. He has also previously represented Sean "Diddy" Combs, Winona Ryder, Kesha, and Michael Jackson, as well as Susan McDougal during the 1990s Whitewater investigation connected to the Clintons. Geragos began her legal career as a trial attorney at Brafman & Associates PC, a law firm based in New York City, according to her LinkedIn profile. She was admitted to the bar in both New York and California in 2017. She spent nearly eight years at Brafman & Associates before becoming a founding partner at Agnifilo Intrater LLP. Her legal background includes expertise in cases involving sexual misconduct, where she has served as counsel for both alleged victims and those facing accusations.
New York Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
In Menendez Brothers' Case, a Reckoning With the 1990s
After Lyle and Erik Menendez were resentenced on Tuesday, paving the way for their possible release after more than three decades in prison, one of the first things their lawyer, Mark J. Geragos, did was make a phone call. Leslie Abramson, the brothers' defense attorney at their trials in the 1990s who found herself parodied on 'Saturday Night Live,' had in recent years warned Mr. Geragos that his efforts to free the brothers were doomed, in spite of the groundswell of support on social media. 'No amount of TikTokers,' he recalled Ms. Abramson telling him, 'was ever going to change anything.' Facing the bank of television cameras staking out the courthouse, Mr. Geragos told reporters he had just left a message for his old friend. 'And so, Leslie, I will tell you it's a whole different world we live in now,' he said. He continued, 'We have evolved. This is not the '90s anymore.' Indeed, over the last many months, the culture and politics of 1990s America seemed as much under the legal microscope as the horrific details of the Menendez brothers' crimes and what witnesses described as the exemplary lives they led in prison ever since. At times, putting that decade on trial felt like a legal strategy by the brothers' lawyers. In court, Mr. Geragos often invoked the criminal justice policies of the era — three-strikes laws, punitive long sentences and a rising prison population — to argue that under today's mores the brothers merited a second chance. During his closing argument at Tuesday's hearing, Mr. Geragos described the time as a 'crazy, collective, lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key mentality we had.' When the brothers stormed into the den of their family's Beverly Hills mansion in the summer of 1989 and shotgunned their parents to death, Los Angeles was on the cusp of a tumultuous era. By the time the brothers went on trial for the first time, in 1993, the city was still reeling from the deadly riots that followed the acquittal of the police officers in the Rodney King case. The first trial was one of the first to be televised gavel to gavel to a national audience and foreshadowed the public's obsession with the O.J. Simpson trial, and the explosion of true-crime programming today. The brothers were tried together but each with their own juries, which heard the brothers' assertions that they had been molested by their father and had killed out of fear. Neither jury could reach a verdict, so a mistrial was declared. By the time their second trial began, just after the acquittal of Mr. Simpson in 1995, the judge changed the rules, banning cameras in the courtroom and limiting testimony about sexual abuse. The changes were seen at the time as a reaction to the acquittals of Mr. Simpson and the officers in the Rodney King case, which had embarrassed law enforcement officials. (Years later a federal appeals court judge suggested that the rules were unfairly changed to improve the chances of a conviction.) Without being able to consider a lesser charge of manslaughter, as the jurors in the first trial could, the brothers were convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole. 'It was clear politics had a major impact on the second trial,' said Robert Rand, who has covered the case since 1989 and has written the book, 'The Menendez Murders.' 'Because the D.A.'s office had suffered a string of major high-profile case defeats.' How popular culture treated the story, regularly mocking the brothers as spoiled kids who invented the claims of sexual abuse and killed for their inheritance, regularly came up in court during the resentencing process. 'It has been a relentless examination of our family in the public eye,' said Anamaria Baralt, a cousin who testified on the Menendez brothers' behalf and spoke about their being 'the butt of every joke' on 'Saturday Night Live' and other late-night shows in the 1990s. 'It has been a nightmare.' Another cousin, Tamara Lucero Goodell, said the vilification of late-night talk show hosts, like Jay Leno, left her 'incredibly private' and 'closed off.' Mr. Rand said he was one of the few reporters at the time who took the sexual abuse claims seriously. 'I was dating another reporter who was covering the case, and she would tell me that the other reporters covering the trial were ridiculing me behind my back because I was going on Donahue and Oprah and these '90s TV shows and saying I believed Lyle and Erik Menendez,' he said. Today, the media landscape looks very different, and the brothers have arguably benefited from that new landscape. Two shows on Netflix last year helped inject momentum into a slow-moving legal process, and new interest in the brothers' fate was fueled by campaigns on TikTok and other social media by younger people who felt the brothers were mistreated in the 1990s. Last fall, George Gascón, then the district attorney of Los Angeles, filed a petition asking a court to resentence the brothers. But Mr. Gascón, who had come into office promising to unwind many of the policies of the 1990s by focusing on rehabilitation and less punitive sentences, lost his re-election bid to Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor. Mr. Hochman is a more traditional prosecutor, emphasizing the rights of victims and taking a tougher line on sentencing. He came out against the resentencing of the brothers, saying they had not demonstrated 'full insight' into their crimes. In court, Mr. Geragos has called the prosecutors ''90s Neanderthals.' In an interview with NewsNation, he said that Mr. Hochman 'was elected because the '90s were calling, and they wanted their D.A.'s office back.' One of the witnesses who testified in support of resentencing was Jonathan Colby, a retired judge from Florida who has worked with the brothers inside prison training puppies to work with wounded combat veterans and autistic children. Mr. Colby said that, as a judge overseeing criminal cases in the 1990s, he was a law-and-order judge who almost always imposed the toughest sentence possible. 'Unfortunately, I was proud of that,' he said. He said that his association with the brothers changed his mind about the role of prison, and hoped that, if they were to be released, he could work with them to educate judges about the possibilities of rehabilitation. 'I never thought prisons were capable, or prisoners were capable, of rehabilitating themselves,' he said. After California's prisons became so overcrowded during the 1990s, a U.S. Supreme Court decision ordering the state to reduce its inmate count led to a series of legislative reforms, including the resentencing law that allowed the brothers to have their case reconsidered in court. When the brothers said they had killed because they had been sexually abused by their father, prosecutors and some in the media treated the claims with skepticism. (At trial a prosecutor said, 'Men cannot be raped since they lack the necessary equipment to actually be raped.') 'If they were the Menendez sisters they wouldn't be sitting here,' Mr. Geragos said in court, pointing to the brothers who appeared on a screen from prison, wearing blue jumpsuits. When Lyle Menendez arrived in state prison in 1996 after his conviction, he said that one of the things that boosted his spirits during that dark time was the number of sexual abuse victims who sent him letters. 'I received a lot of ridicule in the '90s about it but also a lot of support, and a lot of victims reaching out, appreciating that, and finding their voice through mine,' Lyle Menendez said on a recent podcast interview with TMZ. Last fall, as efforts to free the brothers gathered momentum following the release of a Netflix series from the producer Ryan Murphy, Gov. Gavin Newsom weighed in, saying on his podcast, 'I think our parents would remember Manson as an indelible thing. But for us, I think it was O.J. and the Menendez brothers, which were so much a part of the narrative of our lives.' After Judge Michael V. Jesic said on Tuesday that he would reduce the brothers' sentences, making them immediately eligible for parole, and that the case was now in the hands of the governor. Governor Newsom has said he would also consider clemency. 'No doubt what Ryan Murphy did with this series really lit things up,' Mr. Newsom said on his podcast last year. 'I think social media has lit things up. I don't know about you, but I'll tell you, I can't even tell you how many times my kids online have said, 'Hey, what's going on with the Menendez brothers?''
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Can I watch the Diddy trial? Is it livestreaming? Here's how to follow, get updates
The trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs, accused of sexual abuse, "vicious" attacks and blackmail, began May 12 with witness testimonies of the hip-hop mogul's alleged violent episodes. Prosecutors alleged the hip-hop mogul lured women into romantic relationships, forced them through emotional, physical and financial manipulation to take part in days of highly coordinated, drug-fueled sex parties called "freak offs" with male escorts that he directed, and then blackmailed them with videos he recorded of the encounters. Much of the first day was devoted to an infamous video that allegedly shows Combs beating, kicking, and dragging his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura Fine in a hotel hallway. The video was shown to the jury and former security guard Israel Florez testified about her "purple" eye, a smashed flower vase in the room, and Combs offering him money to stay quiet. The jury also heard testimony from former male stripper Daniel Phillip, who told the court he was paid to have sex with Ventura Fine while Combs watched, but finally stopped after seeing Combs physically abuse her. The Bad Boy Records founder's defense lawyer Teny Geragos said in her opening statement that the video was "horrible," "dehumanizing," and "terrible," but it was domestic violence, not Combs forcing her into sex. Geragos argued that all of Combs' sexual encounters were entirely consensual and blamed the charges on jealous exes and former employees wanting money. "Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case. This case is about voluntary choices made by capable adults in consensual relationships," Geragos told jurors. Combs, whose two mansions in Florida were raided in March 2024, is facing two counts of sex trafficking, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, and one count of racketeering. He has pleaded not guilty. Along with the "freak offs" and abuse, the indictment also alleges that Combs punched, struck, dragged and kicked various women since at least 2008, and forced employees to "cover up his abuse and commercial sex" operation. Other incidents listed in the indictment include an armed kidnapping and blowing up a car. The trial is not being photographed, televised or streamed. You'll have to follow reporter updates. While states and federal civil proceedings have more flexibility, broadcasting and photographing criminal proceedings in federal courts is prohibited under the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure, largely thanks to another sensational trial: the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's baby. In the 1935 trial of Bruno Hauptmann, who was convicted of kidnapping and killing the famous aviator's infant son, about 700 journalists swarmed the courtroom. People ran back and forth to send updates, and some of the estimated 120 cameramen there climbed on tables to get better shots and blind witnesses with flash bulbs. Hauptmann's appeal that the "media circus" in the courtroom denied him a fair trial was rejected, but it caused the American Bar Association to ban photography and broadcast coverage of trials in 1937. Electronic media coverage of criminal trials in federal courts was prohibited in 1946 by Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53. Several of the prosecution's key witnesses in the Combs trial will also be testifying under pseudonyms to protect their identities. USA TODAY is reporting live from the trial each day. You can follow along here. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Diddy sex crimes trial: Can I watch it or get live updates?
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Yahoo
Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial live updates: First witness called to testify in federal sex trafficking case
The trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs is underway in federal court in Manhattan, where the 55-year-old hip-hop mogul is facing charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. According to the indictment, Combs 'abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.' It contains a litany of shocking allegations. Federal prosecutors say that Combs used his business empire for decades to conduct 'freak offs,' drug-fueled sex performances in which women were allegedly coerced to participate. The indictment also alleges that Combs used guns, kidnapping and arson to control his victims. He has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, Combs could face life in prison. He is being held without bail in a Brooklyn jail. A jury of 12 New Yorkers and six alternates will decide his fate. The trial is expected to last at least eight weeks. Follow the live blog below for the latest updates on the trial, culled from various reporters and news organizations in the courtroom. Court has resumed after an hourlong lunch break, with the prosecution calling the first witness to testify in the trial: Israel Florez, an officer with the LAPD who formerly worked at the Los Angeles hotel where Combs was seen assaulting Cassie Ventura in a 2016 surveillance video. Courtroom sketches of Combs's criminal trial are the only images the public will see over the course of the next several weeks because the trial is not allowed to be televised. Below are the first sketches released from Monday morning's proceedings, which include opening statements from the prosecution and the defense and a thumbs-up from Diddy to his family. The jury was excused for lunch after the prosecution and defense delivered their opening statements. Court is in recess until 1:15 p.m. ET. Combs's defense attorney wrapped up her opening statement by telling the jury that the accusers weren't forced into sexual relationships and were willing participants who could have left at any time. Teny Geragos also suggested to the jury that those who will testify against Combs have a motive. "For many of them the answer is simple — money," she said. In her opening statement, Geragos informed the jury that Combs and Ventura have not seen each other since the 2018 funeral of Kim Porter, the mother of several of Combs's children. Ventura is expected to take the stand as a witness for the prosecution this week. When she does, Geragos said, "We are all going to witness their closure." Teny Geragos, Combs's defense attorney, talked about the hotel surveillance video from 2016 in which her client appears to violently assault his then girlfriend Cassie Ventura. "What Combs did to Cassie on this videotape is indefensible. It's horrible. It's dehumanizing. It's violent," Geragos admitted during opening statements. However, she went on to say that while the video may be evidence of domestic violence, it is not evidence of sex trafficking, which is what Combs is charged with in this case. Combs's defense attorney addressed the extensive amount of baby oil seized by law enforcement during a search of his home last year. "You may know of his love for baby oil," Geragos said during her opening statement. "Is that a federal crime? No." She also told the jury that there might be times when they think Combs is a jerk or is being mean but reminded them that that's not what he's being charged with. "He is charged with running a racketeering enterprise," Geragos said. Teny Geragos, one of Combs's attorneys, has begun delivering opening statements for the defense. She argues that this case is not a complicated one, but rather is about "voluntary adult choices made by capable adults in consensual relationships." Geragos argues the prosecution is wrongly making this case about sex trafficking. Prosecutor Emily Johnson is explaining to the jury how Combs allegedly forced Cassie Ventura and another woman, identified by the pseudonym Jane, to take part in 'freak offs,' or drug-fueled sexual performances with male escorts against their will. According to the indictment, the "freak offs" would sometimes go on for days, with participants typically requiring IV fluids to recover. Johnson said Jane was beaten brutally by Combs when she confronted him about enduring years of "freak offs." Combs allegedly choked, kicked and punched Jane, giving her a black eye. He then demanded she cover up the black eye, take ecstasy and perform in another "freak off," Johnson told the jury. A third woman, Nia, described by Johnson as one of Combs's employees, will testify about how he forced himself on her sexually, and snuck into her bed to penetrate her against her will. Johnson describes Combs as the head of a criminal enterprise in her opening statement for the prosecution, alleging that his inner circle helped him commit illegal acts. "He called himself the king and expected to be treated like one," Johnson said, according to NBC News. 'He expected his inner circle to cater to his every desire, including his sexual desire. And his inner circle made sure he got everything he wanted.' In her opening statement, prosecutor Emily Johnson is telling the jury that they'll hear about the crimes Combs allegedly committed in detail. But she is focusing on one night in particular, when she said Combs found out that his girlfriend Cassie Ventura was seeing another man — and went on "the hunt" for her. When Combs found her, Johnson said, he 'did what he had done countless times before. He beat her brutally, kicking her in the back and flinging her around like a rag doll.' The 2016 incident, which was caught on surveillance video in a Los Angeles hotel, is considered a key piece of evidence in the trial. The jury chosen for Diddy's trial is made up of eight men and four women, as well as six alternates consisting of two women and four men, according to NBC News. The jurors are residents of Manhattan, the Bronx and Westchester County and range in age from their 30s to 70s. Their occupations include a massage therapist, an investment analyst, a deli clerk, a dietary aide at a nursing home and a retiree who used to work for JPMorgan, the New York Times reported. The identities of the jurors won't be made public and are only known to the court, prosecution and defense attorneys. This is a common practice for high-profile cases where juror safety can be an issue. The newly empaneled jury has received its instructions from Judge Arun Subramanian, and opening statements in the federal sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs are now underway. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson is delivering the opening statement for the prosecution. 'This is Sean Combs,' Johnson says, gesturing to Combs at the defense table. 'To the public, he was Puff Daddy or Diddy. A cultural icon. A businessman. Larger than life. But there was another side to him. A side that ran a criminal enterprise.' Combs's sprawling legal team is led by veteran criminal defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo, who has experience in high-profile cases, having previously represented NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere and 'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli, among others. Combs's other lawyers include Teny Geragos, Alexandra Shapiro and Brian Steel, who represented rapper Young Thug in a racketeering case in Georgia and was the subject of a recent New Yorker profile. Also of note: Marc Agnifilo's wife, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, is lead counsel for Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year. She was spotted in the courtroom Monday to hear opening statements in the Combs case. A team of eight U.S. attorneys are arguing the case for the government, including Emily Johnson, Madison Smyser, Mary Slavik, Meredith Foster and Mitzi Steiner, who are listed as the lead lawyers on the docket. The prosecution team also features Maurene Ryan Comey, daughter of former FBI Director James Comey. In 2022, she helped secure a conviction against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse underage girls. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The judge overseeing the trial is Arun Subramanian, who was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by then-President Joe Biden in 2022 and confirmed by the Senate in 2023. He is the first judge of South Asian descent to serve on the court's bench. Subramanian, a Columbia Law School graduate who clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was previously a partner at the Manhattan law firm Susman Godfrey, where he specialized in commercial and bankruptcy law. The Diddy case is believed to be his highest-profile trial yet. The jury that will hear Sean "Diddy" Combs's sex trafficking case has been selected. Lawyers for both sides were allowed to issue peremptory strikes — excluding without any reason or explanation — to a pool of 43 prospective jurors on Monday morning before the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates was finalized. The jury will be sworn in by Judge Arun Subramanian before opening statements. The Sean "Diddy" Combs federal sex-trafficking trial will not be televised, because broadcasting of federal court proceedings is generally prohibited under a rule adopted by U.S. judges in the 1940s. That means that the only images you'll see from inside the courtroom will be from sketch artists (like this one by Jane Rosenberg), and updates will be delivered via reporters in the courtroom. Relatives of Sean "Diddy" Combs arrived early at federal court in Manhattan Monday. His mother, Janice, and six of his children were among them. Last week, the prosecution and defense narrowed the pool of potential jurors to 45 and were expected to make their final selections on Friday. But two potential jurors were dismissed at the last minute — one for personal reasons, the other for not disclosing an ongoing lawsuit they were involved in — forcing Judge Arun Subramanian to delay the process of finalizing the jury until Monday. After jury selection is complete, the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates will be sworn in, followed by opening statements from both sides and testimony from the first witnesses called by the prosecution.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Yahoo
Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial live updates: First witness called to testify in the federal sex trafficking case
The trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs is underway in federal court in Manhattan, where the 55-year-old hip-hop mogul is facing charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. According to the indictment, Combs 'abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.' It contains a litany of shocking allegations. Federal prosecutors say that Combs used his business empire for decades to conduct 'freak offs,' drug-fueled sex performances in which women were allegedly coerced to participate. The indictment also alleges that Combs used guns, kidnapping and arson to control his victims. He has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, Combs could face life in prison. He is being held without bail in a Brooklyn jail. A jury of 12 New Yorkers and six alternates will decide his fate. The trial is expected to last at least eight weeks. Follow the live blog below for the latest updates on the trial, culled from various reporters and news organizations in the courtroom. Court has resumed after an hourlong lunch break, with the prosecution calling the first witness to testify in the trial: Israel Florez, an officer with the LAPD who formerly worked at the Los Angeles hotel where Combs was seen assaulting Cassie Ventura in a 2016 surveillance video. Courtroom sketches of Combs's criminal trial are the only images the public will see over the course of the next several weeks because the trial is not allowed to be televised. Below are the first sketches released from Monday morning's proceedings, which include opening statements from the prosecution and the defense and a thumbs-up from Diddy to his family. The jury was excused for lunch after the prosecution and defense delivered their opening statements. Court is in recess until 1:15 p.m. ET. Combs's defense attorney wrapped up her opening statement by telling the jury that the accusers weren't forced into sexual relationships and were willing participants who could have left at any time. Teny Geragos also suggested to the jury that those who will testify against Combs have a motive. "For many of them the answer is simple — money," she said. In her opening statement, Geragos informed the jury that Combs and Ventura have not seen each other since the 2018 funeral of Kim Porter, the mother of several of Combs's children. Ventura is expected to take the stand as a witness for the prosecution this week. When she does, Geragos said, "We are all going to witness their closure." Teny Geragos, Combs's defense attorney, talked about the hotel surveillance video from 2016 in which her client appears to violently assault his then girlfriend Cassie Ventura. "What Combs did to Cassie on this videotape is indefensible. It's horrible. It's dehumanizing. It's violent," Geragos admitted during opening statements. However, she went on to say that while the video may be evidence of domestic violence, it is not evidence of sex trafficking, which is what Combs is charged with in this case. Combs's defense attorney addressed the extensive amount of baby oil seized by law enforcement during a search of his home last year. "You may know of his love for baby oil," Geragos said during her opening statement. "Is that a federal crime? No." She also told the jury that there might be times when they think Combs is a jerk or is being mean but reminded them that that's not what he's being charged with. "He is charged with running a racketeering enterprise," Geragos said. Teny Geragos, one of Combs's attorneys, has begun delivering opening statements for the defense. She argues that this case is not a complicated one, but rather is about "voluntary adult choices made by capable adults in consensual relationships." Geragos argues the prosecution is wrongly making this case about sex trafficking. Prosecutor Emily Johnson is explaining to the jury how Combs allegedly forced Cassie Ventura and another woman, identified by the pseudonym Jane, to take part in 'freak offs,' or drug-fueled sexual performances with male escorts against their will. According to the indictment, the "freak offs" would sometimes go on for days, with participants typically requiring IV fluids to recover. Johnson said Jane was beaten brutally by Combs when she confronted him about enduring years of "freak offs." Combs allegedly choked, kicked and punched Jane, giving her a black eye. He then demanded she cover up the black eye, take ecstasy and perform in another "freak off," Johnson told the jury. A third woman, Nia, described by Johnson as one of Combs's employees, will testify about how he forced himself on her sexually, and snuck into her bed to penetrate her against her will. Johnson describes Combs as the head of a criminal enterprise in her opening statement for the prosecution, alleging that his inner circle helped him commit illegal acts. "He called himself the king and expected to be treated like one," Johnson said, according to NBC News. 'He expected his inner circle to cater to his every desire, including his sexual desire. And his inner circle made sure he got everything he wanted.' In her opening statement, prosecutor Emily Johnson is telling the jury that they'll hear about the crimes Combs allegedly committed in detail. But she is focusing on one night in particular, when she said Combs found out that his girlfriend Cassie Ventura was seeing another man — and went on "the hunt" for her. When Combs found her, Johnson said, he 'did what he had done countless times before. He beat her brutally, kicking her in the back and flinging her around like a rag doll.' The 2016 incident, which was caught on surveillance video in a Los Angeles hotel, is considered a key piece of evidence in the trial. The jury chosen for Diddy's trial is made up of eight men and four women, as well as six alternates consisting of two women and four men, according to NBC News. The jurors are residents of Manhattan, the Bronx and Westchester County and range in age from their 30s to 70s. Their occupations include a massage therapist, an investment analyst, a deli clerk, a dietary aide at a nursing home and a retiree who used to work for JPMorgan, the New York Times reported. The identities of the jurors won't be made public and are only known to the court, prosecution and defense attorneys. This is a common practice for high-profile cases where juror safety can be an issue. The newly empaneled jury has received its instructions from Judge Arun Subramanian, and opening statements in the federal sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs are now underway. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson is delivering the opening statement for the prosecution. 'This is Sean Combs,' Johnson says, gesturing to Combs at the defense table. 'To the public, he was Puff Daddy or Diddy. A cultural icon. A businessman. Larger than life. But there was another side to him. A side that ran a criminal enterprise.' Combs's sprawling legal team is led by veteran criminal defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo, who has experience in high-profile cases, having previously represented NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere and 'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli, among others. Combs's other lawyers include Teny Geragos, Alexandra Shapiro and Brian Steel, who represented rapper Young Thug in a racketeering case in Georgia and was the subject of a recent New Yorker profile. Also of note: Marc Agnifilo's wife, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, is lead counsel for Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year. She was spotted in the courtroom Monday to hear opening statements in the Combs case. A team of eight U.S. attorneys are arguing the case for the government, including Emily Johnson, Madison Smyser, Mary Slavik, Meredith Foster and Mitzi Steiner, who are listed as the lead lawyers on the docket. The prosecution team also features Maurene Ryan Comey, daughter of former FBI Director James Comey. In 2022, she helped secure a conviction against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse underage girls. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The judge overseeing the trial is Arun Subramanian, who was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by then-President Joe Biden in 2022 and confirmed by the Senate in 2023. He is the first judge of South Asian descent to serve on the court's bench. Subramanian, a Columbia Law School graduate who clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was previously a partner at the Manhattan law firm Susman Godfrey, where he specialized in commercial and bankruptcy law. The Diddy case is believed to be his highest-profile trial yet. The jury that will hear Sean "Diddy" Combs's sex trafficking case has been selected. Lawyers for both sides were allowed to issue peremptory strikes — excluding without any reason or explanation — to a pool of 43 prospective jurors on Monday morning before the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates was finalized. The jury will be sworn in by Judge Arun Subramanian before opening statements. The Sean "Diddy" Combs federal sex-trafficking trial will not be televised, because broadcasting of federal court proceedings is generally prohibited under a rule adopted by U.S. judges in the 1940s. That means that the only images you'll see from inside the courtroom will be from sketch artists (like this one by Jane Rosenberg), and updates will be delivered via reporters in the courtroom. Relatives of Sean "Diddy" Combs arrived early at federal court in Manhattan Monday. His mother, Janice, and six of his children were among them. Last week, the prosecution and defense narrowed the pool of potential jurors to 45 and were expected to make their final selections on Friday. But two potential jurors were dismissed at the last minute — one for personal reasons, the other for not disclosing an ongoing lawsuit they were involved in — forcing Judge Arun Subramanian to delay the process of finalizing the jury until Monday. After jury selection is complete, the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates will be sworn in, followed by opening statements from both sides and testimony from the first witnesses called by the prosecution.
