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It was 9:52 a.m. on Wednesday, July 2, when the news of the jury arrived in the trial of Sean Combs for sex trade and organized crime. The mogul’s lawyers dissolved their meeting and went into the waiting room to get their clients. When Combs returned to the courtroom, he looked at his family and nodded them comfortably as if he wanted to say: “Everything will be fine.” And Diddy received an acquittal at least in some cases.
After 28 days often shocking testimonies and 13 hours of advice, the jury had finally made a judgment. Both Combs and the Federal Prosecutor’s office appeared on Wednesday in the knowledge in court that a decision was imminent. On the evening before, the jury announced that it had reached a judgment in four of the five charges against Combs, but was still disagree with regard to the accusation of extortion. At the instructions of judge Arun Subramanian, they returned to the Federal District Court in Manhattan at 9 a.m. to end their work.
Combs also appeared briefly in the courtroom on Wednesday morning
Before his partial acquisition, Diddy spent a few minutes to go through documents with his legal team, and at 9:30 a.m. his mother Janice, six of his children and some of her friends came in and took the entire second row of the grandstand.
Before he returned to the waiting room, Combs welcomed his relatives and told them they should “stay strong”. Combs lowered his head and spoke a short prayer. “God blorn the jury,” he asked. “God, please wake up about my family.”
“Amen”, Combs concluded, and the family clapped loudly before Combs was paid by the US Marshal service.
Combs and his family didn’t have to wait long. When they returned to the courtroom after the announcement of the jury’s decision, Combs looked happy and confident. He read from an expression of the psalm 11, which ends with the lines: “Because the Lord is fair, he loves the right, and the sincere will see his face.” Meanwhile, his family sat nervously behind him on the chair edges.
When Combs became a bit nervous during advising the jury, this nervousness quickly evaporated. When the jury freely released him from the accusation of organized crime, the Mogul breathed deeply and clashed his fist triumphantly. His family snapped to air and there were a few jubilee calls to be heard.
Diddy: acquittal and a smile in the judgment
When the acquittals in the two charges for sex trade were announced, Combs continued to tremble for joy and disbelief. He even smiled when the jury found him guilty for two cases of promotion for the purpose of prostitution. He hugged his defender Teny Geragos, gave him a kiss, then turned to his family and said: “We will make it, I will come home.”
And when the jurors left the hall, Combs folded their hands, pointed to them and said: “Thank you, thank you.”
The mixed judgment for Combs is a surprising ending for the sensational process. Since Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura had submitted a shocking lawsuit against him in November 2023, Combs had been violent. He was not only confronted with charges at federal level, but also with a flood of civil complaints from other plaintiffs. (He was able to enclose the complaint from Ventura quickly, but the other procedures are still pending.) Combs has admitted some criminal acts, including domestic violence and drug use, but largely asserted his innocence.
Sean Combs: Nevertheless, he threatens a prison sentence
Despite the mixed judgment and acquittal in three charges, Diddy could threaten a prison for prostitution because of the two convictions, since every violation of the man act is punished with a prison sentence of up to 10 years. However, it is unlikely that Judge Subramanian will impose the highest possible punishment because Combs is not a criminal record. An appointment for the verdict has not yet been determined.
Meanwhile, Combs continues to wait for whether he will be taken back in custody or released from custody for deposit while waiting for his conviction. After the verdict was pronounced, the public prosecutor and the defense started the negotiation immediately, and Subramanian is expected to make a decision today.
Before the public prosecutor and defense over his release, Combs turned to his family. He sank to his knees and began to pray again, the elbows based on the chair on which he had been sitting for the past eight weeks.