NEW YORK (AP) — The sixth week of the Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial was shortened by a holiday and a juror’s illness as prosecutors nearly concluded their case, setting the stage for a one- or two-day defense presentation next week.
In the trial’s first five weeks, jurors repeatedly heard testimony about drug-fueled marathon sex events described as “freak-offs” by one of Combs’ ex-girlfriends and as “hotel nights” by another. In the sixth week, they were shown about 20 minutes of video recordings from the dayslong events.
Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Entertainment, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges in the trial, which continues Monday.
Here are key moments from the past week:
Jurors watch videos of ‘freak-off’ sex marathons they had heard so much about
Jurors largely kept their reactions muted when they were shown about 20 minutes of recordings made by Combs of his then-girlfriends having sex with male sex workers at the elaborately staged “freak-offs” or “hotel nights.”
Prosecutors say the events were proof of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges because Combs coerced his employees, associates and even his girlfriends to recruit and arrange flights for sex workers while his workers obtained drugs, stocked hotel rooms with baby oil, lubricant, condoms, candles and liquor and delivered cash.
In her opening statement, defense lawyer Teny Geragos had called the videos “powerful evidence that the sexual conduct in this case was consensual and not based on coercion.”
Prosecutors played about 2 minutes of the recordings before the defense team aired about 18 minutes of the videos.
The public and the press were unable to observe whether the prosecutors or defense lawyers had the better arguments after the judge ruled that neither the recordings nor the sound could be seen or heard by anyone except lawyers, the judge and the jury.
Several jurors seemed to cast their eyes and sometimes turn their bodies away from the screens directly in front of them while the recordings played. The jurors listened through earphones supplied by the court, as did Combs and lawyers.
A juror is ejected from the panel by a judge who questions whether he has an agenda
Judge Arun Subramanian started the week by dismissing a juror whose conflicting answers about whether he lived in New Jersey or New York convinced the judge he was a threat to the integrity of the trial.
Subramanian said the juror’s answers during jury selection and in the week before he was excused “raised serious concerns as to the juror’s candor and whether he shaded answers to get on and stay on the jury.”
“The inconsistencies — where the juror has lived and with whom — go to straightforward issues as to which there should not have been any doubts, and the answers also go to something vital: the basic qualifications of a juror to serve,” the judge said.
Residents of New Jersey would not be permitted to sit on a New York federal jury.
A day before Subramanian ruled, defense lawyers argued fiercely against dismissal, saying that replacing the Black juror with a white alternate juror so late in the trial would change the diverse demographics of the jury and require a mistrial.
The jurors are anonymous for the Combs trial.
It wasn’t the only issue regarding jurors for the week. The judge, angered by a media report about the questioning of another juror the week before that occurred in a sealed proceeding, warned lawyers that they could face civil and criminal sanctions if such a leak happened again. That juror was not dismissed.
And Wednesday’s court session had to be canceled after a juror reported “vertigo symptoms” on the way to the courthouse.
A defense lawyer predicts a presentation measured in hours rather than days
Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo seemed to close the door on any chance Combs would testify when he said Friday that the defense presentation would be finished Tuesday or Wednesday the following week, even if prosecutors don’t rest until late Monday.
It is not uncommon for defendants to choose not to testify at criminal trials. Besides being exposed to cross-examination by prosecutors, the testimony can be used by the government against the defendant should there be a need for a retrial. Also, if there is a conviction, the judge can conclude that the jury believed the defendant lied on the stand.
Another former Combs’ employee requires immunity to testify about working for him
Brendan Paul, fresh off the college basketball courts where he once played in a cameo role for Syracuse University, joined Combs’ companies as a personal assistant in late 2022 and was warned by a friend who had worked for Combs about what was ahead.
“He told me to get in and get out,” Paul recalled for the jury, citing the endless days and always-on-edge existence. “If you have a girlfriend, break up with her. And you’re never going to see your family.”
The friend also instructed him to “build a rolodex of clientele and get out,” he said.
Paul said he worked 80 to 100 hours a week for a music power broker who received “thousands and thousands” of text messages and emails a day. He was paid $75,000 salary initially, but it was raised in January 2024 to $100,000.
He said Combs told him he “doesn’t take no for an answer” and wanted his staff to “move like Seal Team Six.”
Several times, Paul said, he picked up drugs for Combs and knew to keep his boss out of the drug trade because “it was very important to keep his profile low. He’s a celebrity.”
The job came to an abrupt end in March 2024 when Paul was arrested at a Miami airport on drug charges after a small amount of cocaine that he said he picked up in Combs’ room that morning was mistakenly put in his travel bag as he prepared to join Combs on a trip to the Bahamas. The charges were later dropped in a pretrial diversion program.
Paul said he hadn’t seen Combs since.
