Leonardo Munoz/AFP via Getty Images
Just 70 minutes into deliberations in the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex-trafficking trial, the jury sent the judge a note complaining that one juror may not be playing well with others.
“We have a juror,” read the note, “who we are concerned cannot follow your honor’s instructions.”
The cryptic note identified the potentially problem juror as a 51-year-old Manhattan man and self-described scientist who sits in the third seat in the jury.
The judge, defense, and prosecution agreed they want the jury to be reminded of their duty to deliberate and told to continue. The judge said the jury will be given a printed letter in which he reminds them of their duty to follow his instructions and continue deliberating.
During voir dire, juror number three said he has a Ph.D. in molecular biology and neuroscience.
He said, in broken English, “I’m a veterinary.”
He listed his hobbies as art, science, cooking, the outdoors, and hiking, and described the trial as “a good break for me. I haven’t taken a vacation in a very long time.”
Earlier Monday, court officials let the hip-hop mogul share a brief courtroom prayer as jury deliberations began.
For two minutes, some 20 supporters — including Combs’ mother Janice and his six adult children — held each other’s hands with bowed heads in a pair of front rows behind the defense table.
Combs faced them from the other side of a wooden railing, head bowed but without touching them.
At the end of the prayer session, those in the gathering, including Combs, began clapping, according to a silent video feed of the gathering.
Deliberations follow more than six weeks of prosecution testimony.
Five alternate jurors were sent home, but are available to be called back in if needed.
Jurors began their day Monday listening with apparent care to two hours of instructions on the relevant law by US District Judge Arun Subramanian.
The jury was sent to the deliberations room with a double-sided, 40-page copy of those instructions. They were each also given copies of a three-page verdict sheet that lists the five counts that Combs faces, charges that could send him to prison for life.
Federal prosecutors allege that Combs ran Bad Boy Entertainment and his collection of lifestyle brands as an illegal enterprise.
They say he used his multimillion-dollar company’s cash and personnel to support drug distribution, forced labor, kidnapping, and other crimes. The most serious racketeering crime, prosecutors say. is the sex trafficking of his two girlfriends, R&B singer Cassie Ventura from 2009 through 2018, and a girlfriend who testified under the pseudonym of “Jane” from 2021 to 2024.
Combs’ lawyers argue that the sex was consensual, and showed the jury texts they say prove the women enjoyed these encounters. The women have told jurors that they only told Combs what he wanted to hear, because only when he was happy could they feel safe and financially secure.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to five charges: Racketeering conspiracy, separate sex trafficking counts for Ventura and Jane, and separate charges of transporting the two women for purposes of engaging in acts of prostitution.
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