Jurors in the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial will continue their deliberations on Wednesday on the racketeering conspiracy charge against the hip-hop mogul after reaching a partial verdict on four out of the five charges.
The panel of eight men and four women enters the third day of deliberations at U.S. District Court in lower Manhattan, having come to a decision Tuesday on two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, the latter concerning allegations of arranging to fly women and sex workers across state lines.
It remains unclear whether the jury found Combs guilty or not guilty of those four counts. Before the results of the verdict can be announced, jurors will have to decide on count 1 of racketeering conspiracy.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The jurors sent a note to the judge late Tuesday afternoon saying they’d reached a verdict on four of the five counts but were unable to agree on count 1. The foreman told Judge Arun Subramanian that the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the racketeering conspiracy charge because they had jurors “with unpersuadable opinions on both sides.” The judge told them to keep deliberating, and the jurors were later dismissed for the day.
According to the jury’s verdict sheet, there are eight acts under the federal racketeering conspiracy charge: kidnapping, arson, bribery, witness tampering, forced labor, sex trafficking, transportation and inducement to travel for purposes of prostitution, and possession with intent to distribute narcotics.
“The RICO [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act] charge is the most serious, the most complex, the most elements, the most difficult to prove and, frankly, the most confusing,” legal expert Richard Schoenstein, the vice chair of litigation practice at Tarter Krinsky & Drogin, told CBS New York. “So it doesn’t surprise me at all that would be the count that they’re currently undecided on.”
Jurors reached their partial verdict on the four counts Tuesday after requesting to review some of the testimony from Combs’ former longtime girlfriend and R&B singer Cassie Ventura and a male escort allegedly involved in so-called “freak-offs.” It came after less than 13 hours of deliberations across two days. Jurors began deliberating on Monday.
After the note from the jury was brought to court on Tuesday, Combs was seated with his attorneys surrounding him, standing in a half-circle. Combs appeared to be praying with his head bowed and hands folded on his lap. Combs wiped and rubbed his eyes, but it wasn’t clear if he was crying.
If there’s a conviction, 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 racketeering conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Alice Gainer
contributed to this report.
