Jury deliberations have begun in the Diddy sex trafficking trial. And assuming things get back under control we should be getting a verdict in the next day or so. We hope, anyway!
But while you wait, you may want to brace yourself: the rapper may go from beating his girlfriend to beating this rap.
We already reported on Monday that the jury had problems right from the start. A note to the court revealed one juror was unable to follow the judge’s instructions — implying they weren’t going to do any weighing of evidence or debating. We already heard all about why that’s good news for the defense. But there may be more reason for the defense to celebrate!
Criminal defense attorney David Gelman thinks there’s no way he gets convicted on the evidence the Southern District of New York has presented! He explained to DailyMail.com on Monday:
“I don’t see how a jury is going to be able to convict Diddy on any of these charges. Not just one or two or three — any of them. The evidence is not there.”
In all, Diddy is still facing five charges: two of sex trafficking, two of prostitution across state lines, and one of racketeering conspiracy. But Gelman think he’ll walk on everything because the feds didn’t have enough evidence:
“Frankly, it’s an embarrassment, what the government did.”
Is this why the defense didn’t seem to put up much of a fight? And rested their case right after the prosecution did? Because they agreed there just wasn’t anything they needed to debunk?? If so… damn.
In addition to the surprise note from the jury room, there was another big sign, says Gelman — the fact the prosecution dropped charges at the last minute. They stated they were making it simpler for the jury, a nod to “the Court’s desire for streamlined instructions.” But he thinks it was a huge mistake on their part — because the jury just got shown all this evidence then told never mind. And that, he says, will have more of an impact than the feds thought through:
“The jury is going to be pissed off. Why bring these charges to begin with? The government should have known the charges were weak, so why waste the jury’s time for multiple weeks? Jurors are not dumb and will definitely be thinking that.”
It does communicate weakness, asking for less at the last moment.
Related: Diddy Won’t Have To Get A Pardon From Pal Trump?
But what about the charges still on the table? Gelman thinks they’re dead in the water. On the lesser prostitution charges:
“They don’t have [evidence of] Diddy actually making calls and paying the prostitutes. They have evidence that [Comb’s former girlfriend] Cassie Ventura and other individuals working for Diddy set this up. So, to say beyond a reasonable doubt that it was Diddy is a bridge going way too far.”
On the sex trafficking? They may have evidence the “freak offs” took place… but they’d have to take Cassie Ventura and Jane Doe‘s word on it that they were coerced:
“The prosecutors would need to show that they were all unwilling participants. I don’t see any force or coercion anywhere. People were paid but were doing this on their own free will.”
Oof. Is he right? Or will the jury believe the women here? We mean, they did say they were intimidated by the violence he committed against them. And that violence isn’t something the defense even tried to deny. Hmm.
Gelman thinks even though the very pregnant Cassie was really sympathetic, she didn’t say enough to convict her ex.
And then there’s racketeering. It’s by far the hardest to understand, most people don’t even know what it is, much less how to distinguish it beyond a reasonable doubt. Well, Gelman feels confident the defense gave enough doubt (or the prosecution didn’t offer up enough evidence) that what Diddy did was illegal:
“All these sex parties, these ‘freak offs’ that they had, Diddy was all for it, but did he facilitate any of them? Nope, none of them to my mind. Nobody has any proof that he facilitated one single sex party. And sex parties are not illegal. You have a bunch of consenting adults doing sexual activities. It may not be the flavor of the month for everybody, but there’s nothing illegal about it.”
Hmm. Will Diddy get away with it because he always had the girls pay the escorts? So there’s no proof it was him?
Or will the jury see him as the mastermind behind it all? We’d argue it’s kind of hard to paint Cassie as the one pulling the strings… when she wasn’t around for the Jane stuff. Their testimony was similar enough to show a pattern of behavior to us.
But we’re not on the jury. Nor have we ever been defense attorneys! But the guy who has is saying the defense’s closing argument — saying the extremely wealthy Diddy’s exes were just looking for a payday — was more convincing:
“The theme of it being a ‘fake trial’, and all about money, was really powerful.”
He added that he does think the prosecution convinced everyone about the abuse — just not the much more serious (from a prison time standpoint, that is) charges of sex trafficking and racketeering:
“If this were a state case and he was charged with domestic violence and assault and battery he’d be guilty any day, but that’s not what he was charged with.”
Damn. What if he’s right? What would YOU think about Diddy getting off because the prosecution didn’t do a good enough job??
[Image via Adriana M. Barraza/Eugene Powers/WENN.]
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