Key moments from the closing arguments at Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial

NEW YORK – A assemblage volition statesman deliberations connected Monday implicit the destiny of Sean “Diddy” Combs aft proceeding wildly differing views from prosecutors and a defence lawyer implicit whether helium engaged successful enactment trafficking for 2 decades.

Two prosecutors insisted that helium had coerced, threatened and sometimes viciously forced 2 ex-girlfriends to person enactment with antheral enactment workers to fulfill his intersexual pleasure. They cited aggregate acts of unit helium carried retired against them arsenic impervious that they had nary say.

A defence lawyer past mocked the government's closing statement and warned that prosecutors were employing a caller attack to enactment crimes that risked turning the swinger manner that Combs and his girlfriends enjoyed into imaginable crimes for each Americans.

Combs, 55, the laminitis of Bad Boy Entertainment, has pleaded not blameworthy to enactment trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges successful the trial, which continues Monday erstwhile the justice volition work instructions connected the instrumentality to jurors earlier they statesman deliberations.

Here are cardinal moments from closing statement connected Thursday and Friday:

Prosecutors showed they weren’t withdrawing claims against Combs

Prosecutors triggered headlines past week that they had backed disconnected oregon eliminated claims of arson and kidnapping against Combs erstwhile they said they were removing instructions connected the instrumentality regarding them to beryllium fixed jurors connected Monday successful effect to the judge's petition to streamline the lawsuit for the jury.

“The Government is nary longer readying to proceed connected these theories of liability truthful instructions are nary longer necessary,” prosecutors wrote successful a missive to the judge.

But erstwhile Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik launched closings connected Thursday, she gave the allegations of arson and kidnapping a starring relation successful her archetypal sentences, naming them earlier immoderate others.

“Over the past respective weeks, you’ve learned a batch astir Sean Combs. He’s the person of a transgression enterprise. He doesn’t instrumentality nary for an answer. And present you cognize astir galore crimes the suspect committed with members of his enterprise: Kidnapping of 1 of the defendant’s employees; arson by trying to stroke up a car; forced labor, including of an worker the suspect repeatedly sexually assaulted; bribery of a information serviceman to support damning grounds against the suspect buried; and of course, the brutal crimes astatine the bosom of this lawsuit — enactment trafficking,” she said.

The arson assertion stemmed from grounds that Slavik said showed Combs was down the firebombing of rapper Kid Cudi's Porsche successful 2012. The kidnapping allegation besides related to Cudi. Slavik said Combs kidnapped an worker to articulation him erstwhile helium broke into Cudi's location aft learning the rapper was dating his girlfriend.

A defence lawyer strikes back, belittling government's case

Attorney Marc Agnifilo successful an at-times folksy presumption spared fewer theatrics successful mocking the government's lawsuit against Combs arsenic overreach, saying hundreds of agents poured into Combs' residences successful Miami and Los Angeles to prehend hundreds of bottles of babe lipid and Astroglide lubricant.

“I conjecture it’s each worthy it due to the fact that they recovered the Astroglide. They recovered it successful boxes, boxes of Astroglide taken disconnected the streets. Whew, I consciousness amended already,” helium said, earlier adding: “The streets of America are harmless from the Astroglide!”

From the start, Agnifilo tried to represent prosecutors arsenic unjustly targeting Combs aft a erstwhile woman of astir 11 years — Casandra “Cassie” Ventura — sued him successful November 2023. She testified for 4 days successful the trial's archetypal week.

The suit was settled for $20 cardinal the adjacent time but she touched disconnected a transgression probe with her allegations of being subjected to hundreds of drug-fueled “freak-offs” successful which she alleged she was forced to execute sexually for days with antheral enactment workers portion Combs watched, filmed and directed the action.

A pistillate who testified nether the pseudonym “Jane” besides testified during the proceedings that she experienced “hotel nights” akin to “freak-off” successful a narration with Combs from 2021 until his arrest.

Agnifilo maintained the prosecution was an unjust onslaught connected a salient and wildly palmy Black entrepreneur.

“They took Astroglide and they took babe oil, and that ends up being the grounds successful this case, due to the fact that his businesses are outstanding. There’s thing astir the businesses to find. There’s thing astir the businesses to marque into a transgression case,” helium said.

Defense personalizes the lawsuit for jurors, calling it onslaught connected ‘your bedroom’

Agnifilo tried to formed the lawsuit for the assemblage arsenic an onslaught connected everyone's chamber and the secrets of one's enactment life.

“They spell into the man’s bedroom. They spell into the man’s astir backstage life. Where is the transgression scene? The transgression country is your backstage enactment life. That’s the transgression scene,” helium said arsenic helium stood earlier jurors, who were mostly expressionless arsenic they took occasional notes and watched the closings.

The lawyer said it was not uncommon that Combs liked to movie intersexual events with his girlfriends, calling it “sort of typical, you know, homemade porn” and adding that “I don't deliberation by immoderate agelong of the imaginativeness this is the lone antheral successful America making homemade porn.”

Still, helium said, investigators "take yellowish transgression country tape, figuratively, and they wrapper it astir his bedroom. Crime country — your bedroom, your edifice rooms, wherever you spell with your girlfriends. Crime scenes. A batch of yellowish tape.”

Then, helium gave a motion to the 50th day of the movie “Jaws,” resurrecting a classical enactment from Hollywood past erstwhile helium said: “We request a bigger rotation of transgression country tape, due to the fact that that’s conscionable not going to beryllium enough.”

Judge agrees defence went excessively acold saying prosecutors targeted Combs

Just aft Agnifilo told jurors that it “takes a batch of courageousness to acquit,” helium ripped the government's lawsuit a last clip successful stark terms, saying the proceedings was “very different" from immoderate different trial.

“I deliberation that the grounds shows, and you tin conclude, that the authorities targeted Sean Combs,” helium said, noting that cipher complained to the authorities to instigate a probe, but investigators alternatively began their enactment a time aft Cassie filed her lawsuit.

After the assemblage near the country astatine the decision of Agnifilo's four-hour summation, his connection astir targeting drew an outcry from the prosecutor, Slavik.

When the assemblage returned, Judge Judge Arun Subramanian noted the remark Agnifilo had made astir targeting Combs and told jurors that “the determination of the authorities to analyse an idiosyncratic oregon the determination of a expansive assemblage to indict an idiosyncratic is nary of your concern.”

In rebuttal, a authoritative tells jurors that Combs is ‘not a god’

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey got the last connection with a rebuttal presumption to jurors, telling them: “The suspect is not a god.”

She said that Combs successful his caput “was untouchable." She noted that 1 erstwhile idiosyncratic adjunct adjacent described him arsenic a “god among men.”

“For 20 years, the suspect got distant with his crimes. That ends successful this courtroom,” she said. “He is simply a person. And successful this courtroom, helium stands adjacent earlier the law. Overwhelming grounds proves his guilt. It is clip to clasp him accountable. Find him guilty.”

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