The first day of jury deliberations in the Sean “Diddy” Combs s*x trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial has proven confusing for some of the jurors.
That was the message relayed to the judge in New York City’s Federal District Court of Lower Manhattan about one hour after the jurors began deliberating.
They sent a note to judge Arun Subramanian saying something was not right with one particular member of the jury.
Sean “Diddy” Combs is being held in a courthouse jail cell while he awaits a verdict
The charges against Combs are centered around testimony from witnesses, including Comb’s former girlfriend and acquaintances, who said that the hip-hop mogul forced them to take d**gs and have intimate relations with paid escorts while he watched—sometimes filming the sessions, known as “freak-offs”.
Combs was charged and arrested last fall, at which time he was placed in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. The MDC is a notorious jail, known for violence, shoddy facilities and a lack of staff.
Combs is currently staying in a holding cell at the courthouse while he waits for a verdict.
But after what happened on Monday, it might take longer than expected.
After ‘charging the jury’, deliberations began, but were quickly halted
Image credits: Law&Crime Network
According to news reports, the jury started their day on June 30th with a procedure called “charging the jury”, wherein the judge goes over the details of the laws that the prosecution is using for their case.
This process took judge Arun Subramanian about two hours, reports say.
At roughly 11:30 in the morning, the jury, which is composed of eight men and four women, was sent to begin deliberations.
What happened next was unexpected.
“We are concerned”: Jurors express apprehension about one member
Just before one o’clock in the afternoon, the foreperson came out of the deliberating room with a handwritten note for the judge.
The note said that juror Number 25 was not complying with the rules of the deliberations.
“We are concerned (No. 25) cannot follow your honor’s instructions,” the note read.
Nothing more was revealed to the court, but for the next 40 minutes or so, lawyers for both sides started negotiating over how to handle the matter.
Finally, judge Subramanian stepped in.
At around 2pm, he told jurors to continue deliberating, and that he would send another note back to the jurors with clarifications.
Jurors had a second question later in the day
That wasn’t the only note to be sent to the judge on the first day of deliberations.
According to the NY Times, the foreperson also conveyed a question to the judge about d**g distribution.
The question sought to clarify whether an individual could be found guilty of distributing d**gs if the person who received the d**gs had requested them in the first place.
The judge said he would answer that question first thing in the morning on Tuesday when deliberations started up again.
Netizens call out juror for apparent stunt on first day of deliberations
Image credits: Law&Crime Network
In the past few months, graphic details from the prosecution’s witnesses have ignited an array of online comments.
But after Monday’s stunt, some people are calling juror Number 25 “an attention seeking idiot,” and say that he only needed to ask the judge for further clarification.
And there is no shortage of O.J. Simpson references.
The former NFL star was famously acquitted in the murder trial of his wife and wife’s boyfriend because one of the main pieces of evidence—a bloodied glove found at the scene—did not fit his hand.
“Don’t tell me, the gloves were too small,” one person said.
Combs’ lawyers call him an “imperfect person” and denied all charges
Combs has denied all the allegations. His attorney calls it an unjust prosecution of an “imperfect person,” explaining that yes, Combs veered into violence in some instances.
But his lawyers maintain the acts of intimacy were consensual. They contend that the prosecution is unlawfully intruding into Combs’ personal life and that he has not done anything to warrant the charges against him.
Combs has been on hand throughout the trial. He is often supported by several members of his family, including his children, who sit in the front row behind the defense.
On the first day of deliberations, as the jurors entered the deliberating room, Combs appeared to lead his family in a prayer.
Netizens react to first day of jury deliberations in Diddy’s trial for human trafficking and racketeering
