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Hearing successful Sean "Diddy" Combs lawsuit
Sean "Diddy" Combs, the euphony mogul accused of sexually assaulting, trafficking and different exploiting women successful recurring incidents implicit aggregate decades, is lasting proceedings successful New York City this month. Jury enactment begins Monday, and opening statements are scheduled to travel connected May 12.
Combs, 55, faces aggregate charges, including enactment trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. He has been jailed since September, erstwhile he was ordered held without bail. He has pleaded not blameworthy and astatine his last pre-trial hearing, rejected a plea deal.
As the proceedings gets underway successful Manhattan national court, here's what to know.
Combs volition beryllium tried connected 5 charges
One of the astir almighty figures successful hip-hop, Combs is accused of moving a transgression enterprise, with assistance from associates and employees, since astatine slightest 2004 that engaged successful oregon attempted to prosecute successful enactment trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, obstruction of justness and different offenses, according to an indictment.
Combs was initially charged successful September 2024 with 1 number of racketeering conspiracy, 1 number of enactment trafficking by force, fraud oregon coercion, and 1 number of proscription for purposes of prostitution. A superseding indictment brought 2 further counts — 1 of enactment trafficking by force, fraud oregon coercion, and 1 of proscription for purposes of prostitution — against him successful aboriginal April.
The indictment alleges Combs "engaged successful a persistent and pervasive signifier of maltreatment toward women and different individuals," which was "verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual." It accuses him of manipulating women into participating successful commercialized enactment acts with him and sometimes with antheral enactment workers. He allegedly arranged for women and the enactment workers to beryllium flown to him.
The acts with enactment workers, which prosecutors accidental Combs called "Freak Offs," are described successful the indictment arsenic elaborate performances that Combs directed and often filmed with oregon without participants' consent. Prosecutors person alleged the events progressive excessive cause use, "in portion to support the victims obedient and compliant," and sometimes lasted aggregate days.
Combs is besides accused of assaulting women repeatedly implicit galore years by "striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking them," the indictment said. The unit extended to his employees and radical who witnessed his alleged abuse, prosecutors say. In 1 instance, Combs is accused of dangling a unfortunate implicit an flat balcony, according to the indictment.
In summation to abuse, Combs allegedly maintained power implicit victims with money, drugs and threats to their careers, among different means. Prosecutors besides allege Combs utilized bribes and blackmail to fell grounds of his conduct.
According to prosecutors, the racketeering conspiracy complaint involves allegations that Combs sex-trafficked 3 victims and forced a fourth, 1 of his employees, into intersexual enactment with him. The indictment refers to 3 pistillate victims arsenic Victim-1, Victim-2 and Victim-3.
Four accusers are expected to attest against Combs, according to prosecutors.
If Combs is recovered blameworthy connected each counts, CBS News ineligible contributor Jessica Levinson said helium could extremity up facing decades successful prison. He has pleaded not guilty to each of the charges against him.
His attorneys person said the allegations against him came from "former semipermanent girlfriends, who were progressive successful consensual relationships."
"This was their backstage enactment life, defined by consent, not coercion," the defence said successful a connection successful April pursuing the superseding indictment.
2016 edifice information video
A information portion showing Combs attacking his then-girlfriend, R&B vocalist Casandra Ventura, who performs nether the sanction Cassie, successful 2016 is expected to service arsenic a cardinal portion of grounds for prosecutors during the trial.
The video shows Combs throwing Ventura to the level successful the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel, kicking her and dragging her. CNN obtained and published the footage past twelvemonth pursuing nationalist allegations of carnal and intersexual unit against Combs.
Ventura accused Combs of rape and carnal maltreatment successful a lawsuit successful November 2023 that was settled the time aft she filed it. The suit besides alleges Combs paid the edifice $50,000 for the 2016 information footage.
Combs apologized for his behaviour seen successful the video but denied the allegations successful the lawsuit.
Prosecutors contend the battle successful the video happened during a "Freak Off." Combs lawyers, who tried to person the justice to exclude it from the trial, reason the footage was thing much than a "glimpse into a analyzable but decade-long consensual relationship" betwixt the two.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian said Combs' lawyers failed to person him that the footage should beryllium excluded. Its relevance to the lawsuit outweighs immoderate imaginable prejudice to Combs, the justice said.
Jury selection
Ahead of assemblage selection, Combs' ineligible squad and prosecutors disagreed connected what to see successful the questionnaire utilized to measure imaginable jurors.
In tribunal filings, Combs' attorneys argued that prosecutors' projected questionnaire did not "explore astatine each the prejudices and biases that are cardinal to an effectual enquiry to seating a just jury" nor admit "the unprecedented and antagonistic media attraction they whitethorn person been exposed to, related to Mr. Combs."
They requested that jurors beryllium questioned astir their views regarding sex, drugs, unit and radical with aggregate intersexual partners.
Prosecutors criticized the defense's projected questionnaire arsenic excessively agelong and touching connected subjects that would beryllium amended asked successful idiosyncratic by the judge, if astatine all. They said immoderate of the questions were "utterly irrelevant to the quality to service connected a jury."
Elias E. Lopez, Pat Milton, Nicole Sganga, Alex Sundby, Andres Triay and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Emily Mae Czachor is simply a quality exertion astatine CBSNews.com. She typically covers breaking news, utmost upwind and issues involving societal and transgression justice. Emily Mae antecedently wrote for outlets similar the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.
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