Sex-trial judgment looms for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

Over more than six weeks of testimony, a Manhattan jury – and the world – was riveted by allegations about Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs with Cassie Ventura in Los Angeles in 2016. Picture: AFP.

Over more than six weeks of testimony, a Manhattan jury – and the world – was riveted by allegations about Sean “Diddy” Combs: the hip-hop mogul’s ­violent temper, sexual urges, ­celebrity beefs and the love-hate relationship that many of his former assistants had for their boss.

Jurors will begin deliberating on Tuesday (AEST) whether Combs parlayed his celebrity, wealth and business empire into a decades-long criminal ring that saw him force women into drug-fuelled sexual performances with escorts.

Federal prosecutors said his wealth and power masked an ­uglier side: a criminal enterprise that he ran over 20 years, involving kidnapping, bribery and sex-trafficking. Combs forced his then-girlfriends into participating in drug-fuelled sex parties with male escorts that he ­referred to as “freak offs”, they alleged. Lawyers for Combs said the sex parties were consensual, and accused prosecutors of trying to paint his proclivities as a criminal enterprise.

The dozen New Yorkers tasked with deciding the music mogul’s future will began poring over thousands of phone, financial and other records along with the stories of 34 people who ­testified against him over seven weeks.

Combs, 55, could face life in prison if convicted on five federal charges that include racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation for purposes of prostitution.

The producer and entrepreneuer, once one of the most powerful people in the music ­industry, denies the charges.

On Friday his lawyer vied to skewer the credibility of his accusers – namely two women he dated for years – saying they were out for money, while rejecting any notion he led a criminal ring. But in their final argument, prosecutors tore into the defence, saying Combs’s team had “contorted the facts endlessly”.

Prosecutor Maurene Comey told jurors that by the time Combs had committed his most obvious offences, “he was so far past the line he couldn’t even see it”. “In his mind he was untouchable,” she told the court. “The defendant never thought that the women he abused would have the courage to speak out.

“That ends in this courtroom. The defendant is not a god.”

Defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo scoffed at the picture painted by prosecutors of a violent, domineering man who fostered “a climate of fear”.

Combs is a “self-made, successful black entrepreneur” who had romantic relationships that were “complicated” but consensual, he said.

The defence has conceded that Combs at times beat his partners – but insists the domestic violence does not amount to the sex trafficking or racketeering he’s charged with.

Key to the prosecution’s case were Casandra Ventura and a woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane, both of whom described abuse, threats and ­coercive sex in wrenching detail.

The defence mocked them, insisting the women were adults making choices that were best for them.

Prosecutor Comey snapped back at that notion, saying the women were “manipulated” into “brazen” acts of sex trafficking.

Ms Ventura and Jane both said they experienced emotional manipulation and threats which made them feel obliged to meet Combs’s sexual demands.

Judge Arun Subramanian told the jurors they must reach a unanimous decision.

The Wall Street Journal