On Monday, jurors will begin to consider whether Sean “Diddy” Combs incorporated his celebrity, wealth, and business empire into a decades-long criminal ring that forced women to perform in escorts-fueled sex acts.
The dozen New Yorkers charged with deciding the music mogul’s future plans began scouring thousands of phone, financial, and other records for the accounts of 34 people who testified against him over the course of seven difficult, and occasionally agonizing, weeks.
If found guilty of five federal counts, including racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation for prostitution, Combs, 55, could spend up to life in prison.
READ MORE: Sean Combs’ Defense Slams Accusers In Closing Argument.
The producer and entrepreneur, who was once one of the most powerful figures in the music business, refutes the accusations.
His lawyer vying for his client’s credibility on Friday, challenging the claims that he had a long-term relationship with two of his accusers, who had claimed they were looking for money.
Prosecutors tore into the defense in their final argument, contending that Combs’ team had “contorted the facts endlessly.”
Prosecutor Maurene Comey testified to jurors that Combs had already committed his most serious offenses because he was “so far past the line” that he was unable to see it.
She testified to the judge, “He was untouchable in his mind.” The defendant “never imagined that the women he abused would have the guts to confess their abuse.”
She said, “That ends in this courtroom.” The defendant is not a deity, the statement read.
Attorney for the prosecution, Marc Agnifilo, scoffed at the depiction of a violent, domineering man who promoted “a climate of fear.”
According to Agnifilo, Combs is a “self-made, successful Black entrepreneur” who had “complicated” but mutual romantic relationships.
Manipulation
Combs has acknowledged that he occasionally beats his partners, but the defense contends that his acts of domestic violence do not constitute sex trafficking or racketeering.
Witnesses Casandra Ventura and Jane, both of whom gave gripping accounts of abuse, threats, and coercive sex, were crucial to the prosecution’s case.
The defense disputed their accounts in their closing arguments, sometimes even mocking them, insisting that the women were adults making the right decisions for them.
Prosecutors Comey refuted that theory when they spoke for the government on Friday, claiming that the women had been “manipulated” into engaging in “brazen” sex trafficking.
Ventura and Jane both claimed to have been subjected to emotional manipulation and threats because they felt compelled to comply with Combs’ sexual demands.
Jurors were shown a large number of phone records throughout the trial, including those that Agnifilo claimed had implied consent to receive from both women.
However, the prosecution argued that those messages do not accurately represent the entire picture and made reference to forensic psychologist testimony that explained how victims become victims of abuse.
The prosecution’s contention that Combs was the leader of a criminal organization with senior employees who “existed to serve his needs” and used them as tools for crimes like forced labor, kidnapping, bribery, witness tampering, and arson are central to their case.
Agnifilo did point out that neither of those individuals were identified as co-conspirators nor that they had testified against Combs.
Many witnesses received immunity orders so they could speak without having to defend their own identities.
Jurors must find that Combs’ involvement in at least two of the eight crimes that make up the racketeering charge must be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt by prosecutors in order to convict him of racketeering.
Judge Arun Subramanian will explain how the law applies to the evidence to them on Monday.
The eight men and four women will then begin deliberating.
Source: Channels TV
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