NEW YORK (AP) — The jury has reached a verdict Wednesday in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial in New York City on the third day of deliberations.
The verdict has yet to be announced in court.
In addition to sex trafficking, Combs is charged with racketeering conspiracy and transporting sex workers across state lines.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers acknowledge he could be violent and may have been a bad boyfriend. But they deny that he’s done anything to warrant the charges against him.
If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
The court said a verdict had been reached after Sean “Diddy” Combs seemed buoyant arriving in the courtroom Wednesday morning, a contrast to his mood a day earlier after he learned that the jury at his sex trafficking trial had reached a yet-to-be-disclosed verdict on all but one of the five charges the hip-hop mogul faces.
Combs smiled and clasped his hands together in the air toward his family and supporters before hugging several of his lawyers and sitting down to await the outcome of the jury’s third day of deliberations.
A short while later, Combs, his head bowed, stood several feet from his family for less than a minute as they sat with their heads bowed in prayer. As they did on Monday, Combs and family members then applauded before he was led from the courtroom by U.S. marshals. The family later got in a van and left the courthouse.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian ordered the jury to continue its closed-door discussions for a third day after the panel of eight men and four women said it was unable to reach consensus on the top count: racketeering conspiracy.
The judge agreed with prosecutors and Combs’ defense team that less than 13 hours of deliberations was too soon to give up on reaching a verdict on all counts.
The jury’s decision on the other charges — two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution — remains under wraps for now.
In a note to the court late Tuesday, the jury said “unpersuadable opinions on both sides” among some jurors had prevented the group from reaching a unanimous verdict on the racketeering conspiracy charge.
Racketeering conspiracy is the most complicated charge in the trial and carries a potential maximum sentence of life in prison.
The sex trafficking charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life. Transportation to engage in prostitution carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The disclosure of the jury note about the partial verdict seemed to put defense attorneys and their client in a dour mood even before it was read in open court by the judge.
Eight defense lawyers formed a half-circle behind Combs as the smiles and lighthearted mood that accompanied the arrival of other jury notes over two days seemed absent as the attorneys contemplated the possibility that jurors had reached agreement on counts that carry the heaviest sentencing penalties.
Combs appeared morose as his lawyers spoke with him. At one point, the hip-hop mogul solemnly read a piece of paper that attorney Marc Agnifilo handed to him.
After the jury came in for instructions and then exited the room, a subdued Combs sat in his chair for a few minutes. As he stood to leave, he faced his relatives and supporters in the audience, blew a kiss and tapped his heart, as he frequently has done at the start and end of each day.
Then he paused before his mother and exchanged a few words, telling her, “Love you” and “I’ll be all right.”
Marshals then led him from the room.
Earlier in their deliberations the jury asked to review testimony from Cassie, the R&B singer who was Diddy’s former longtime girlfriend, as well as from Daniel Phillip, a male stripper Diddy is accused of paying to have sex with Cassie.
Prosecutors say Combs coerced two girlfriends into drug-fueled sex marathons with male sex workers.
Lawyers for the Bad Boy Records founder contend prosecutors are trying to criminalize Combs’ swinger lifestyle. They say his conduct, if anything, amounted to domestic violence, not federal felonies.
Combs, who chose not to testify.
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