The jury in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs will keep deliberating after reaching a partial verdict, but deadlocking on the most serious charge faced by the hip-hop mogul.
At the federal court in New York, the 12 jurors announced they had agreed on four of the five counts, but were unable to decide on the racketeering charge, which carries a possible life prison term.
The atmosphere was tense as the rapper sat with head bowed, hands folded in his lap. His lawyers occasionally put their arms around him. Deliberations will resume on Wednesday morning.
Mr Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to all five charges, including sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Over the past two months, the jury has heard from 34 witnesses, including ex-girlfriends, former employees of Mr Combs, male escorts and federal agents.
At around 16:30 EDT on Tuesday (20:30 GMT), the jury announced they had reached a verdict on four of the five counts, after two days of deliberations.
The panel said they couldn’t come to an agreement on the racketeering charge because jurors on both sides have opinions that are unmovable.
Judge Arun Subramanian heard arguments from both the prosecution and the rapper’s defence attorneys on how to proceed, before urging the jurors to keep trying to come to a unanimous decision. Their verdicts on the other four counts were not disclosed.
The prosecution urged the judge to use an Allen charge, which is a set of instructions given to a hung jury to press its members to reach a unanimous decision.
Allen charges are controversial, as some believe they can put undue pressure on juries, forcing them to change their stances or cave to peer pressure – especially when their opinion is in the minority.
The jury will return on Wednesday, and could potentially continue deliberating on 3 July – when the court is normally closed ahead of the 4 July public holiday.
The panel’s unanimous decision on most of the counts after less than two days of deliberations could be a good sign for prosecutors, Robert Mintz, a criminal defence lawyer and former federal prosecutor told the BBC.
But to gain a conviction on the racketeering charge, prosecutors needed to prove that Mr Combs established a criminal enterprise – a co-ordinated plan between the musician and at least one other person to commit at least two crimes over a span of several years.
“That was always going to be the most challenging charge for prosecutors to get a conviction on,” Mr Mintz said.
“It’s a very complicated charge, used typically in the past in organised crime prosecution and so it’s not surprising that that is the one charge giving the jury the most difficulty.”
The defendant has also gone by the names Puffy, Puff Daddy, P Diddy, Love and Brother Love.
He used his stature in the industry to found his successful Sean John clothing line and starred in multiple reality TV shows, including one where contestants competed to become part of his band.
In 2023, he released his fifth record The Love Album: Off The Grid and earned his first solo nomination at the Grammy awards. He also was named a Global Icon at the MTV Awards.
By BBC News
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