Sean “Diddy” Combs was convicted on two of the 5 counts in his federal intercourse crimes trial on Wednesday — particularly, he was discovered responsible of transportation to have interaction in prostitution. Nonetheless, he was acquitted of the extra severe fees associated to racketeering and intercourse trafficking.
The prostitution fees every carry a most sentence of as much as 10 years in jail.
The contentious trial started on Could twelfth, when prosecutors started presenting a chilling narrative of Combs because the chief of a legal enterprise working beneath the guise of his music and enterprise empire. Assistant US Lawyer Christy Slavik argued that Combs systematically used violence, coercion, and manipulation to regulate his victims.
All through its seven weeks, the prosecution detailed how Combs allegedly leveraged his energy and sources to hold out and canopy up severe crimes, together with intercourse trafficking, arson, bribery, and bodily abuse. “Up till right now, the defendant was in a position to get away with these crimes due to his cash, his energy, his affect,” Slavik stated in her closing assertion. “That stops now.”
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Conversely, the protection admitted that Combs “has a mood” and “could be bodily,” however characterised the allegations as a “cash seize.” In his closing argument, legal professional Marc Agnifilo accused prosecutors of placing his shopper on trial for his “way of life,” somewhat than actual crimes.
Agnifilo conceded that Combs beat his ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura, however referred to as their relationship a “nice trendy love story.” He additionally disputed a 2004 kidnapping allegation made by Capricorn Clark and characterised the accusation of Combs torching rapper Child Cudi’s Porsche as “nonsense.”
Transferring on to allegations that Combs conspired to distribute or possess with intent to distribute a managed substance, Agnifilo stated his shopper was a “drug addict,” which had nothing to do along with his companies and enterprises.
Furthermore, Agnifilo argued that Combs was on a “false trial” and was not responsible of intercourse trafficking, however somewhat a “swingers way of life” involving consensual “threesomes” along with his ex-girlfriends and male escorts.
Within the prosecution’s rebuttal, Assistant US Lawyer Maurene Comey stated the protection spent “a complete lot of power making an attempt accountable his [Combs’] victims and the US authorities for his lies, his threats, and for his inexcusable habits.” Comey added, “Make no mistake: This trial was about how, in Sean Combs’ world, ‘no’ was by no means an choice.”
A number of essential witnesses testified for the prosecution in the course of the trial. Ventura spent 4 days on the stand detailing a decade of alleged bodily and sexual abuse. Cudi additionally gave testimony claiming that Combs broke into his residence and later organized for his automobile to be firebombed.
Prosecutors additionally referred to as a number of witnesses who testified to seeing Combs’ alleged violence towards Ventura, in addition to a number of Homeland Safety Investigations brokers, former private assistants, and male escorts.
The protection crew rested its case with out calling any witnesses or Combs taking the stand.
