The jury deliberating in the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex trafficking and racketeering case told the judge they have a partial verdict, having reached a decision on four of the five charges against the hip-hop mogul and have been directed to keep deliberating until they can reach a conclusion on the sprawling federal racketeering charge he faces.
On Tuesday afternoon,Judge Arun Subramanian received a note from the jury that they are stuck on the RICO element of the case. At the end of the day on Monday, jurors sent their second note since starting deliberations in the morning to Subramanian seeking clarification regarding what qualifies as drug distribution. This was certainly related to the alleged crimes that the feds say Combs committed and relate to the racketeering conspiracy charge he faces. Their question related to whether or not a person receiving an illegal substance had previously asked the person accused of distributing the drug if this counted as criminal distribution.
Despite the fast turnaround on the four counts, which include two counts each of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion and transportation for purposes of prostitution, both the prosecution and defense teams agreed that the jury should finish deliberations before the decision on these four counts that the government has charged Combs with is announced.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to five counts contained in an indictment, including sex trafficking and racketeering. He has remained incarcerated without bail in Brooklyn; the disgraced hip-hop icon faces life in prison if found guilty on all charges.
During the prosecution’s closing arguments last week, Southern District of New York Attorney Christy Slavik said that on the racketeering charges the jury must be unanimous in their voting that Combs knowingly and willfully agreed that he, or a co-conspirator, would commit two acts of racketeering. She said there is evidence of multiple acts committed by Combs and his “enterprise”: drug distribution, kidnapping, an arson attack, bribery, facilitating sex trafficking, facilitating travel for commercial sex (for his girlfriends, Cassandra Ventura, the pseudonymous “Jane” and several male sex workers), forced labor and covering up crimes.
More to come
