The final phase of jury selection for the racketeering and sex-trafficking trial of the hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been postponed to Monday.
In a ruling on Friday morning, Judge Arun Subramanian, who is presiding over the case in New York, decided that jury selection will now wrap up on Monday morning due to concerns that jurors might drop out over the weekend if the panel was finalized on Friday as originally planned.
Combs’s defense team had requested the delay, but prosecutors had opposed the postponement.
When the jury selection resumes on Monday morning, a pool of 45 prospective jurors will be narrowed to 12 jurors and six alternates. This final phase is expected to last less than an hour, with opening statements set to follow afterward.
Jury selection began on Monday, and nearly 100 potential jurors were questioned this week to assess their ability to be fair and impartial.
Combs, 55, was arrested in September and faces charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
He has been in custody since his arrest, and has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and has denied all allegations against him.
If convicted on all counts, Combs faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison, and could remain behind bars for life.
Prosecutors allege that Combs used his fame, power and expansive business empire, with help of aides and associates, to engage in or attempt to engage in a variety of crimes over several decades including sex trafficking, kidnapping, forced labor, arson, bribery, enticement to engage in prostitution and obstruction of justice.
The indictment alleges that Combs directed so-called “freak offs”, which are described as drugged-up orgies allegedly arranged with help from Combs’s associates, in which women were allegedly forced to have sex with male sex workers while Combs filmed them.
Combs’s lawyers have said that the prosecutors are trying to criminalize sexual activity between consenting adults, asserting that any group sex was consensual.
The trial is expected to feature testimony from at least three, possibly four, accusers, according to Reuters.
However, earlier this week, prosecutors informed the court that one of the alleged victims, referred to as “Victim-3” in court documents, may not testify after all, due to difficulties reaching her lawyer.
As of Friday morning, it remained uncertain whether “Victim-3” will take the stand.
On Friday, Combs’s defense attorneys informed the judge of their plan to show that there was mutual violence between Combs and his ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who is expected to be a key witness in the upcoming trial, Reuters reported.
The judge appeared disinclined to allow the defense to introduce evidence of alleged violence by Ventura, but said that he would rule on the matter on Monday.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
Source: theguardian.com
