Jury to be chosen for sex trafficking trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK AP The final stage of jury selection for the racketeering and sex trafficking trial of hip-hop mogul Sean Diddy Combs was set to occur on Friday in Manhattan federal court Federal prosecutors and lawyers assembled in a courtroom to narrow a pool of prospective jurors to jurors and six alternates who will hear the two-month trial beginning on Monday For three days this week would-be jurors were inquired questions to help the judge and lawyers determine if they could be fair and impartial And they were also questioned to ensure they could decide the matter on the facts even after seeing explicit videos of sexual activity that particular might find disturbing Combs pleaded not guilty to charges after his September arrest and has remained held without bail at a federal lockup in Brooklyn FILE Music mogul and entrepreneur Sean Diddy Combs arrives at the Billboard Music Awards May in Las Vegas Photo by Jordan Strauss Invision AP File On Friday prosecutors were permitted to strike six prospective jurors from the jury while defense lawyers were permitted strikes before the jury is finalized Generally lawyers do not have to explain why they are ejecting individuals from the panel The process was expected to take about an hour If Combs is convicted on all charges which include racketeering kidnapping arson bribery and sex trafficking he would face a mandatory years in prison and could remain behind bars for life Prosecutors allege that the Bad Boy Records founder used his fame and power at the top of the hip-hop world to sexually abuse women from to An indictment includes descriptions of Freak Offs drugged-up orgies in which women were forced to have sex with male sex workers while Combs filmed them Related Articles Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter a Republican who became a liberal darling has died Wall Street points modestly higher as Trump floats lighter China tariffs ahead of weekend talks Judge to hear arguments over whether LA prosecutor should be kicked off Menendez circumstance Is Pope Leo XIV the Chicago-born new pontiff a Cubs or White Sox fan Melania Trump hosts White House event to unveil Barbara Bush postage stamp The charges against him also portray Combs as abusive to his casualties sometimes choking hitting kicking and dragging them often by the hair Once the indictment alleges he even dangled someone from a balcony His lawyers contend that prosecutors are trying to criminalize sexual activity between consenting adults They concede that Combs had abused various substances but say he has undergone healing A centerpiece of the evidence against him are recordings of Combs beating a longtime girlfriend in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in After a video of the encounter aired on CNN last year Combs apologized saying I take full responsibility for my actions in that video I was disgusted then when I did it I m disgusted now Numerous prospective jurors interviewed by Judge Arun Subramanian from Monday through Wednesday revealed they had seen the video and certain were deemed to be too affected by it to be impartial and remain in the jury pool