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Jury delivers mixed verdict: guilty on prostitution charges but acquitted on sex-trafficking and RICO
The jury has founded Combs:
NOT GUILTY of racketeering conspiracy
NOT GUILTY of the sex trafficking of Casandra Ventura
NOT GUILTY of the sex trafficking of “Jane”
GUILTY of the transportation to engage in prostitution, related to Casandra Ventura
GUILTY of the transportation to engage in prostitution related to “Jane”
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Some supporters are putting their fists in the air outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan.
They can be heard chanting “Let Puffy go.”
Janice Combs, mother of Sean “Diddy” Combs, gives a thumbs up after hearing the verdict in her son’s sex-trafficking trial:
More of Combs’s supporters are showing up at the courthouse. Lots of smiles and clapping.
Outside the courthouse, supporters of Combs are saying, “If you’re being abused, come out right away” – seemingly going after Combs’s alleged victims for not coming forward about their alleged abuse sooner.
Patrick Lam, a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was outside the courthouse after the verdict was read in Combs’s trial.
“Here to support Sean and his family,” he said. “Glad they found him not guilty for RICO because prosecutors tried to get whatever they wanted for political reasons.”
A view from outside the courthouse
It’s packed outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan as press as well as supporters of combs fill the streets.
People are shouting “not guilty”.
Andrew Lawrence
Since Combs’s arrest last September on federal criminal charges for racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, a number of podcasters and YouTubers have been notably more sympathetic to him than to the witnesses called for the prosecution.
The allegations about Combs’s behavior are horrific and include shocking revelations about his drug use, sexual indulgences and hair-trigger temper. But you wouldn’t know that from following trial coverage from these faithful evangelists of toxic masculinity.
Combs’s former girlfriend and key witness Cassie Ventura, especially, is an object of their derision, and their assessment of her testimony is withering. In their view, Combs is not a man with incredible power and influence who abused and mistreated those in his circle, but the target of a #MeToo-style witch-hunt orchestrated by Ventura.
Before the verdict was announced, the Guardian’s Andrew Lawrence wrote about how some commentators on Black masculinity are popular pundits on Sean Combs’s case – and explores how they took a clear side:
The federal sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs reached its conclusion on Wednesday, with a jury of 12 New Yorkers finding the music mogul guilty on two charges and not guilty on three charges.
Here were some of the key moments from the seven-week trial:
In the courtroom, fans of the music mogul and his family are clapping and embracing each other.
Judge to decide later today whether to release Combs on bail
Both sides have been asked to submit letters to the judge regarding whether Combs should continue to be held in federal detention or released on bail.
The parties will convene after the letters are submitted this afternoon.
The government has said that it will seek the maximum 20-year sentence for Combs.
Each count that he has been found guilty of carries up to 10 years. Ultimately, it will be up to the judge how long Combs serves.
Combs's defense seeks his release from federal detention
The defense is asking that the court release Combs from federal detention, where he has been held since his arrest last September.
Combs faces up to 20 years in prison
Given what the jury has found Combs guilty of, he faces a maximum of 20 years behind bars.
The judge has thanked the jurors for their “sacrifice”.
“I want you to know that it is inspiring to all of us. You listened, you worked together, you were here every day, rain or shine. You did so with no reward, other than the reward that comes from answering the call of public service. That should give all of us hope,” Judge Arun Subramanian, who is presiding over this case, said.
Jury delivers mixed verdict: guilty on prostitution charges but acquitted on sex-trafficking and RICO
The jury has founded Combs:
NOT GUILTY of racketeering conspiracy
NOT GUILTY of the sex trafficking of Casandra Ventura
NOT GUILTY of the sex trafficking of “Jane”
GUILTY of the transportation to engage in prostitution, related to Casandra Ventura
GUILTY of the transportation to engage in prostitution related to “Jane”
