Federal prosecutors and defense attorneys began presenting their arguments Monday in the sex trafficking case against Sean “Diddy” Combs, shortly after the jury that will ultimately decide the hip-hop star's case was selected.
The New York trial began with prosecutors and defense attorneys removing several candidates from the 12-member jury, including six alternates.
“This is Sean Combs,” federal prosecutor Emily Johnson told the jury, pointing at him. Combs leaned back in his chair as she spoke.
“To the public, he was known as Puff Daddy or Diddy. Cultural icon. Businessman. A larger-than-life figure.
“But there was another side to him. A side that controlled the criminal enterprise,” Johnson said.
“In this trial, you will learn about 20 years of crimes committed by the defendant. But he did not act alone. He had a close circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit his crimes and cover them up.”
These crimes, she said, include kidnapping, arson, drugs, sex crimes, bribery and obstruction of justice.
“Sean Combs is a complicated person. But this is not a complicated case. This is a case about love, jealousy, infidelity and money,” defense attorney Teni Garagos began her opening statement.
She alleged that prosecutors were trying to turn a consensual sexual relationship between adults into a case of prostitution and sex trafficking.
“There has been a lot of noise around this case over the last year,” Ms. Garagos told jurors, referring to the extensive media coverage and social media discussions. “It’s time for that noise to stop.”
Combs stood at the defense table with his hands folded across his stomach as Ms. Garagos introduced him to the jury.
During the prosecution's opening statement, Combs was repeatedly referred to as “the defendant.”
Ms. Garagos told jurors they might know him as “Puff Daddy” or “P. Diddy” or “Diddy,” but in court “he will be referred to by the name he was born with, Sean Combs.”
Combs, wearing a white sweater, walked into the packed courtroom shortly before 9 a.m., hugged his attorneys and gave a thumbs-up to supporters seated behind him.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
