Jane Rosenberg/REUTERS
As the US government’s criminal case against Sean “Diddy” Combs winds down, the hip-hop mogul’s defense attorneys have signaled that they will not call witnesses to testify on his behalf.
Combs had hoped to testify in his own defense at his sex-trafficking and racketeering trial, and had been quietly rehearsing for the testimony with his legal team for weeks, one person with knowledge of the plans told Business Insider.
“He’s been adamant that he wants to do this,” the person said, “They’ve been getting him ready.”
But it now appears that the music and lifestyle entrepreneur has had a change of heart.
On Monday morning, during a scheduling discussion outside the jury’s presence, lead Combs attorney Marc Agnifilo indicated to the judge in the Manhattan federal trial that the defense would not call any witnesses.
Lawyers who are not involved in the case previously told BI that Combs testifying could backfire and expose the onetime near-billionaire to potentially damaging cross-examination from the prosecution.
If Combs did take the stand, prosecutors may have been allowed to question him about his arrest record and the wave of sex abuse lawsuits against him.
As recently as last week, the defense had said it would call at least three witnesses. One was a forensic psychiatryic expert, and two were employees of Combs Global, the millionaire defendant’s company.
Prosecutors are now expected to rest their case on Tuesday after calling more than thirty witnesses to testify against Combs since mid-May. Those witnesses included Combs’ sex-trafficking accusers and ex-girlfriends — R&B singer Cassie Ventura and a woman who testified under the pseudonym “Jane.”
Once the prosecution rests, defense attorneys are planning to read stipulations agreed upon by both parties into the record, and then also rest.
Closing arguments will likely begin on Thursday, and Combs’ eight-man, four-woman jury will get the case afterward.
If convicted on the top charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, Combs, 55, faces spending the rest of his life behind bars.
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