Women’s advocacy groups and organizations that fight sexual violence praised the women who came forward to testify in the Sean Combs trial but expressed disappointment in the mixed verdict handed down by a jury on Wednesday.
The jury found Mr. Combs not guilty of federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges, the most serious charges against him, both of which carry a possible life sentence. But the jury did convict him of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution — violations of the Mann Act — after an eight-week trial. Mr. Combs, who will be sentenced at a later date, and his lawyers were elated in court when the verdict was read.
Advocacy groups had been closely following the deliberations, and they swiftly reacted to the verdict. Most expressed disappointment while praising the two former girlfriends of Mr. Combs’s — Casandra Ventura and a woman known in court as “Jane” — who came forward to tell their stories in often excruciating and lurid detail. Both testified that Mr. Combs had used violence and financial leverage to coerce them into having sex with male escorts.
Arisha Hatch, the interim executive director of the women’s advocacy group UltraViolet, condemned the verdict as “a stain on a criminal justice system that for decades has failed to hold accountable abusers like Diddy.” She called it “an indictment of a culture in which not believing women and victims of sexual assault remains endemic.”
“This is a decisive moment for our justice system,” Ms. Hatch said, “one which threatens to undo the sacrifice of courageous survivors who stepped forward to share their stories in this trial.”
Scott Berkowitz, the founder and president of RAINN, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, was more circumspect, calling the verdict “a complex reflection of how survivors of sexual violence can find justice.”
“Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo called the relationship between Sean Combs and Cassie Ventura a ‘great modern love story,’” Mr. Berkowitz said. “There’s nothing modern or great about abusing your partner, and it certainly isn’t an expression of love.”
“The details of Combs’s crimes were shocking and, in many ways, uncommon,” Mr. Berkowitz added. “But the experiences of those he victimized, and the courage that they showed in their testimony, are familiar to millions of survivors.”
Fatima Goss Graves, the head of the National Women’s Law Center, focused in a statement on extolling what she said was “extraordinary bravery” from the “inspiring survivors who chose to tell their stories.”
“This is not just about Sean Combs,” Ms. Graves said. “We know that abuse involves networks and enablers who allow violence to occur and continue, which maintains a culture of silence and shame. And long after the stories of Sean Combs’s abuse fades from public memory, it will be up to all of us to support survivors and demand that they have justice and healing.”
Matt Stevens is a Times reporter who writes about arts and culture from Los Angeles.
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