By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER
NEW YORK (AP) — A jury returned to deliberate for a second day Tuesday at hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs ‘ federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial.
Jurors were back behind closed doors weighing whether prosecutors proved the charges at a trial that began in early May.
Combs’ lawyers and prosecutors, meanwhile, began the day wrangling in the courtroom with Judge Arun Subramanian over how he planned to answer the jury’s latest question.
Jurors ended the day Monday by asking the judge for clarification about what qualifies as drug distribution, an aspect of the racketeering conspiracy charge that will help determine whether Combs can be convicted or exonerated on the count.
Subramanian said he would remind jurors of the instructions he gave them on that part of the case before they started deliberating on Monday. Combs’ lawyers had pushed for a more expansive response, but prosecutors argued — and Subramanian agreed — that doing so could end up confusing jurors more.
On Monday, the panel deliberated over five hours without reaching a verdict.
Prosecutors say Combs for two decades used his fame, fortune and a roster of employees and associates to force two girlfriends into sexual encounters with male sex workers for days at a time while he watched and sometimes filmed the drug-fueled events.
Defense lawyers contend prosecutors are trying to criminalize Combs’ swinger lifestyle. If anything, they say, Combs’ conduct amounted to domestic violence not federal felonies.
Combs, 55, could face 15 years in prison to life behind bars if he is convicted of all charges.
After pleading not guilty, Combs chose not to testify as his lawyers built their arguments for acquittal mostly through lengthy cross examinations of dozens of witnesses called by prosecutors, including some of Combs’ former employees who took the witness stand reluctantly only after being granted immunity.
When jurors first left the room to begin deliberating on Monday, Combs sat for a while slumped in his chair at the defense table before standing and turning toward three rows of spectators packed with his family and friends.
Those supporters held hands and lowered their heads in prayer, as did Combs, who was several feet from them in the well of the courtroom. After they finished, they together applauded, and so did Combs, still clapping as he turned back toward the front of the room.
Combs also showed off two books he’s reading: “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale and “The Happiness Advantage” by Shawn Achor.
Barely an hour into deliberations, the jury foreperson sent a note to the judge, complaining that there was one juror “who we are concerned cannot follow your Honor’s instructions. May I please speak with your Honor or may you please interview him?”
The judge decided instead to send jurors a note reminding them of their duties to deliberate and obligation to follow his instructions on the law.
By day’s end, the jury seemed back on track, sending the note about drug distribution.