Jurors weighing the federal case against Sean “Diddy” Combs told the court they’d reached a verdict on all counts except the RICO conspiracy charge, which had drawn “unpersuadable opinions on both sides.”
In a note sent out after 4pm, the eight men and four women on the jury said after around 12 hours of deliberations, they had decided on two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
The note did not indicate what their verdict was on those counts.
The outstanding charge is racketeering conspiracy, which carries a potential life sentence and alleges Combs ran his Bad Boy Records empire like a criminal enterprise.
Combs appeared shell-shocked in court and was seen dabbing his eyes after his attorneys received the note.
The development came as a thunderstorm broke out amid darkening skies above the courthouse.
After hearing proposals from federal prosecutors and the rap mogul’s team about how to proceed, Manhattan Federal Judge Arun Subramanian brought the jury back in and instructed them to keep deliberating.
The Judge told them it is their duty, as jurors, to consult with one another and to deliberate with a view to reaching an agreement.
The jurors soon sent out another note to say they would go home and continue weighing the case on Wednesday.
Combs, 55, could be sentenced to life in prison if found guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
He’s pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office alleges he abused his notoriety and his wealth for two decades to sexually exploit women at weekly sex parties, directing them to perform sordid sex acts with a rotation of male escorts while high on his supply of drugs.
In the RICO charge the jury is grappling with, Combs is accused of employing members of his Bad Boy Records empire to help organize the vile sessions and commit kidnapping, arson, witness tampering, bribery and a host of other crimes to intimidate women into submission and terrorize anyone who threatened his authority.
Combs, a New York native who launched the careers of iconic hip hop artists like the Notorious B.I.G., maintains that, while it’s true he has assaulted romantic partners, he never pressured women into sexual performances against their will, that he paid escorts for their time, not sex, and that his employees were not hired to commit crimes.
Source: UK.news.yahoo.com
