Black juror removed from Diddy trial despite defence’s concerns
A juror in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ sex trafficking trial was dismissed on Monday on the request of the prosecution over “lack of candour”.
The 41-year-old juror, a black man, was concluded by US District Judge Arun Subramanian to have given inconsistent answers regarding his residency, having alluded to living in both the Bronx and New Jersey.
According to media reports, the judge said he had “concerns about his candour and whether he shaded answers to get on and stay on the panel.”
In a last-ditch appeal to keep the juror, Combs’ lawyers reportedly filed a 14-page letter arguing that dismissing the juror had no basis and it would be discriminatory.
According to NBC News, while the judge said he shared the defence team’s concerns about dismissing the juror, he could not abide the man’s inconsistent answers about his residency.
The dismissed juror was replace d by an alternate – a 57-year-old white man from Westchester County.
In their letter opposing the removal of the juror, Combs’ attorneys argued that the move by the prosecution is part of a “’coordinated effort” to take down Diddy and that the case against the hip-hop mogul was an “extreme overreach”
“We believe that motive is supported not only by [the US government’s] remarkable decision to use 7 of its 9 peremptory strikes on Black jurors but also by the history of the investigation and prosecution, which has been characterized by extreme government overreach from the beginning,” the defence wrote.
“All of this was part of a coordinated effort to try to destroy one of the most successful Black men in American history,” the defence added.
For nearly a month, jurors in the Manhattan court have heard a series of witnesses describing the influence the 55-year-old Combs exerted over staff and ex-girlfriends.
Combs faces life in prison if convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking.
The music mogul has pled not guilty to the charges against him, with his lawyers arguing that what prosecutors deem to be sex trafficking was in fact consensual.
The trial is expected to continue at least through June.
