One of the jurors in the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial is speaking out for the first time since handing down a mixed verdict on Wednesday.
The juror, who asked to remain anonymous, spoke to ABC News and denied claims that Combs’ celebrity status influenced jurors to deliver a “not guilty” verdict on the music mogul’s three most serious charges.
Any implication that Combs’ fame played a role in the verdict is “highly insulting and belittling to the jury and the deliberation process,” said the juror, who claimed they now fear cyberbullying and harassment over their decision.
Combs’ highly publicized seven-week trial came to an end on Wednesday with the jury acquitting him of three charges and convicting him on two lesser counts. The Bad Boy Records founder, 56, was found not guilty on two counts of sex trafficking as well as racketeering, which would have carried a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
However, Combs was convicted on two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution, for which prosecutors have said they plan to pursue a four to five-year prison sentence.
The verdict shocked many pundits and legal experts, who questioned how the jury could have acquitted Combs on sex trafficking charges after seeing video evidence of him brutally beating Ventura when she attempted to flee a “freak-off.”
Reacting to the news on Wednesday, ABC News legal contributor Bernarda Villalona called the mixed verdict a “slap in the face” for the victims. Online, meanwhile, X users lamented the verdict was proof that “you can do anything if you got money.”
While the juror didn’t shed any light on deliberations, they were quick to deny the implication that Combs’ wealth played a role in the mixed verdict.
“We spent over two days deliberating. Our decision was based solely on the evidence presented and how the law is stated,” they told ABC. “We would have treated any defendant in the same manner regardless of who they are.”
This is the first time a juror has spoken to the press about the trial in the 24 hours since delivering a verdict. (CNN did speak with an alternate juror on Thursday.) However, the closed-door deliberation process was rife with public drama.
Two days before reaching a verdict, the jury foreperson sent a note to Judge Arun Subramanian expressing concern that one juror was not following instructions.
Judge Subramanian reminded all jurors of their “duty to deliberate and their obligation to follow my instruction on the law,” then allowed them to continue deliberating.
The following day, on July 1, the jury foreperson again wrote to Judge Subramanian to explain the group had reached a verdict on four of the five charges, but were struggling to reach a consensus on the racketeering charge. After another day of deliberations, they eventually voted to acquit Combs of racketeering.
Despite being acquitted of the most serious charges against him, Combs was denied bail on Wednesday. Judge Subramanian expressed concerns that the former rapper has shown a “disregard for the rule of law and a propensity for violence” that make him a flight risk if allowed to return home. He will remain in jail until his sentencing on October 3.
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