The federal judge overseeing Sean “Diddy” Combs’ racketeering and sex trafficking trial dismissed one of the jurors Monday morning, saying he had “concerns about his candor and whether he shaded answers to get on and stay on the panel.”
Combs’ lawyers had made a last-ditch appeal Sunday to keep Juror No. 6, a 41-year-old Black man, on the 12-person panel. The defense team filed a 14-page letter arguing there wasn’t a valid basis to toss him, and that doing so would be discriminatory.
Judge Arun Subramanian said Monday that he shared the defense team’s concerns about tossing the juror, but he could not abide the man’s inconsistent answers about where he lives — either in New York City, inside the bounds of the Southern District of New York, or with his girlfriend in New Jersey.
Juror No. 6 will be replaced by an alternate: a 57-year-old white man who lives in Westchester County, north of Manhattan.
Combs’ attorneys, in their letter opposing the removal of the juror, argued in part that the U.S. government’s prosecution of the hip-hop mogul has been a case of “extreme overreach.”
“We believe that motive is supported not only by [the U.S. government’s] remarkable decision to use 7 of its 9 peremptory strikes on Black jurors but also by the history of the investigation and prosecution, which has been characterized by extreme government overreach from the beginning,” the defense wrote.
“All of this was part of a coordinated effort to try to destroy one of the most successful Black men in American history,” the defense team later added, alluding to their client’s accomplishments across music, fashion, branding deals and other ventures.
In a separate development, another juror on the panel faces questions about conversations he may have had with a colleague about the high-profile case. Subramanian questioned the juror Friday, and the juror handed his cellphone to the judge.
Subramanian plans to ask the panelist another round of questions after Monday’s testimony concludes.
Combs faces five criminal counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts transportation to engage in prostitution. The racketeering conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The prosecution team has said it hopes to rest its case sometime this week, after calling a final wave of witnesses.
The post Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial judge dismisses juror over ‘concerns about his candor’ appeared first on NBC News.
