The clock is ticking for Sean “Diddy” Combs as a federal judge has formally set dates for his highly anticipated trial. This legal confrontation, playing out in a New York courtroom, will center on racketeering and sex trafficking charges that have reverberated through the hip-hop world. With jury selection scheduled for April 28, 2025, and opening statements planned for May 12, the stage is now set for one of the most watched trials in recent memory.
Before the trial begins, legal teams on both sides will go to work. The next big step is a pretrial conference on April 25, where attorneys will hash out final procedural details.
Potential jurors will fill out questionnaires from April 28 to April 30, allowing both sides to see who may serve on the jury. Attorneys are to submit their preferred lists for a jury by May 1, and a hearing will address any disputes about the jury list on May 2.
Then comes voir dire, the grueling stage where lawyers grill prospective jurors to check for biases and find people fit for their case. This critical stage begins May 5, and by May 9, both sides will have used peremptory strikes to finalize the jury panel. That will be no small task, with as many as 600 people likely to be called. Once the jury is seated, opening statements are set for May 12, officially kicking off Diddy’s trial.
Misdemeanor charges against Diddy include sex trafficking and transportation for prostitution under the federal RICOAct. Prosecutors say he ran a multi-decade criminal enterprise that involved duress, drug distribution, and organized sexual abuse.
His supposed network deployed private jets, luxury hotels, and even elite parties to enable trafficking, investigators say. The case centers around a critical piece of evidence: a 2016 surveillance video that allegedly shows Diddy assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles. This video, which emerged through CNN in 2024, corroborates Ventura’s earlier allegations in a civil suit, accusations denied by Diddy before he settled.
With a trial date now set, both sides’ legal teams will accelerate preparations. The prosecution is expected to lay out what it calls one of the most sprawling trafficking and racketeering cases in recent memory. If found guilty, Diddy could spend decades in prison. RICO and sex trafficking charges come with severe mandatory minimum sentences.
Until then, the hip-hop mogul is behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, biding his time before his date with a judge. As a complex and high-stakes legal battle looms, all eyes will be on how this trial plays out and what it could portend for the music industry’s ongoing reckoning with power, influence, and accountability.
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