Prosecutors
argue that some of the topics Combs’ attorneys are seeking to question jurors
about should be asked in person by the judge, if at all.
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attorneys have asked a judge to allow
prospective jurors at his upcoming federal sex trafficking and racketeering
trial to be questioned about their views on drug and alcohol abuse, sex and
violence, as well as their opinions of “people with multiple sexual partners.”
In a letter sent Friday to U.S. District Court Judge Arun
Subramanian, who is overseeing the case, Combs’ attorneys wrote that they had
met with federal prosecutors and discussed their respective potential juror
questionnaires but could not come to an agreement.
Subramanian had given both sides until Friday to file their
proposed questionnaires and told them the questions would be distributed to
prospective jurors at the end of this month with jury selection beginning May 5
in Manhattan federal court. Opening statements are scheduled to begin May 12.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all the allegations and
charges, except for two filed this month — an additional charge each of sex
trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was scheduled to
enter a plea on those counts Monday afternoon.
Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo wrote that the legal team
agreed with the government’s proposed questions with the exception of its
description of the case. Agnifilo wrote that “the defense asserts that the
government’s proposal does not explore at all the prejudices and biases that
are central to an effective inquiry to seating a fair jury.”
Combs’ attorneys asserted in the letter that their
questionnaire differs from the government’s in that it inquires about issues at
the heart of the case, such as potential jurors’ connection to drug or alcohol
abuse and domestic violence and their willingness to watch videos that are
sexually explicit or show physical assault.
To bolster their argument, Combs’ attorneys said in the
letter that a judge had allowed nearly exact questions to be asked of jurors in
another racketeering and sex trafficking case in the Eastern District of New
York, that of Keith Raniere, the NXIVM sex cult leader, whom Agnifilo also
represented. Raniere was convicted and sentenced in 2020 to 120 years in
prison.
Prosecutors said in their own letter to the judge that the
defense’s proposed 72-question survey is too long. They wrote that some
questions cover personal topics that should be asked in person by Subramanian,
if at all, and many others are “confusingly phrased.” The prosecutors’ proposed
questionnaire contains 23 questions.
Prosecutors said their request for a short questionnaire
comes from recent experience in the sex trafficking trial of Jeffrey Epstein
confidant Ghislaine Maxwell. After she was convicted of sex trafficking in
December 2021, a juror revealed in media interviews that he had been a victim
of sexual abuse, which he had not disclosed in the questionnaire, prosecutors
said in their letter.
At a subsequent court hearing, the juror said he had been
“distracted as he filled out the questionnaire” and “completely skimmed” it way
too fast, which led him to misunderstand the questions. Prosecutors said the
survey contained 51 questions, many of which had subparts.
“This experience suggests that lengthy questionnaires are
not an effective or efficient means of conducting jury selection,” prosecutors
wrote.
he government is alleging that Combs led a violent
sex-trafficking criminal organization from about 2004 to last year. He was
indicted in September on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and
transportation to engage in prostitution, and was denied bail.
He is being detained in a Brooklyn jail until his trial.
The government has accused Combs of coordinating drug-fueled
sexual encounters that he forced women to participate in and that involved
commercial sex workers, some of whom were transported across state lines.
According to the indictment, Combs called the encounters
“freak offs” and arranged, directed and often electronically recorded them,
using drugs, force and intimidation to coerce women to take part.
The indictment also alleges Combs’ associates would help
prepare for the freak offs, which sometimes lasted days, and clean up after
them.
The public first learned about the alleged freak offs in
2023, when Combs’ former longtime girlfriend Casandra Ventura, a model and
R&B singer once signed to his music label as Cassie, filed a civil lawsuit
against him. She alleged in the complaint that he had physically abused her for
more than a decade and forced her to participate in freak offs at high-end
hotels around the country.
She and Combs privately settled the lawsuit within a day
without Combs admitting any wrongdoing. His legal troubles escalated in March
2024 when his homes in Los Angeles and Miami Beach were raided by federal
agents. The indictment says agents who raided his homes seized freak off
supplies, including narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and
lubricant. Combs’ attorneys have said the encounters were consensual.
Prosecutors have said a key piece of evidence will be a
video in which Combs is seen assaulting Ventura at an InterContinental Hotel in
Los Angeles in March 2016. The video showing Combs punching, kicking and
stomping on Ventura was published by CNN last year and is consistent with an
assault she described in her lawsuit.
After the video’s release, Combs apologized publicly, saying
his behavior was “inexcusable” and that he had sought professional help by
going to therapy and rehab.
NBC news reported
