Diddy walked up in a Manhattan federal courtroom like something out of a grade-A legal thriller: Dudespruced in a fitted suit, the reading glasses resting above his nose, and a posse of eight-strong attorneys to support his presence. No, this wasn’t a business gathering or a red carpet turn but was the opening act of what could be the defining trial of his life.
As the running of the federal jury began, the music mogul looked like he was trying to summon some stoic courage. Still, the gravity of what he’s up against was evident: With five weighty federal charges surrounding him, including sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, Combs is in the midst of the kind of courtroom dogfight where the result could mean spending the rest of his life in prison.
He had first screened potential jurors doing in-person questioning to follow up on extensive questionnaires the regular jurors and alternates completed to determine if they might be contaminated by pretrial publicity or have been otherwise affected by the international attention the case had drawn.
A new docuseries, Love Fraud, in which he’s a subject, claims that Combs operated his empire, which includes Love Records and Combs Global, as a front for a criminal operation that included trafficking, violence, money laundering, and manipulation.
The heart of the case revolves around a piece of surveillance video, which allegedly shows Diddy in a brutal attack against his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a California hotel. In it, he can be seen grabbing, kicking, and attempting to drag her back into a room, disturbing footage that prosecutors say confirms claims that he tried to take her and force her.
The government says Diddy threatened rapper Kid Cudi by telling him, according to the feds, that he would blow up his car while he was dating Cassie. Then, the vehicle exploded, and even though Cudi has acknowledged the incident, it is now in the legal record as part of a larger purported enterprise of payback and intimidation.
The Diddy version features a woman being dangled from a balcony, a Los Angeles home invasion while armed and a cast of pals who acted as conduits to set up sex trafficking, silenced witnesses and kept drugs flowing at wild parties.
Despite the litany of charges and the federal might aligned against the prosecution, Diddy’s camp has hit the ground punching. They said the relationships the women described were consensual and part of an open, nontraditional lifestyle. The defense argues that the charges are an unfair portrayal of what he described as normal adult relationships and the high-rolling lifestyle and don’t amount to criminal behavior.
At age 55, Combs turned down a plea deal and decided to face this fight head-on, directly in front of a jury. Opening arguments are scheduled for May 12. Court is expected to last from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and later will be tightened to a 9-to-3 schedule, plentiful time for courtroom drama. Whatever their verdict on whether he walks free or to a life sentence, this is no ordinary trial, and the world will be watching.
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