Diddy’s attorneys and the prosecution commerce blows throughout fiery closing arguments: ‘A tale of two trials’ | EUROtoday

The protection for Sean “Diddy” Combs described the “tale of two trials” because the music mogul’s intercourse trafficking trial is quickly to enter jury deliberations.

Marc Agnifilo, Diddy’s lead legal professional, paced in entrance of the jury field as he delivered an animated closing argument for the protection Friday, claiming the case towards his consumer tells the “tale of two trials.” One trial depends on witnesses, textual content messages, movies and proof; the opposite is “told from the mouths of prosecutors” and is “badly, badly exaggerated,” he argued.

The rapper faces 5 federal counts of racketeering conspiracy, intercourse trafficking, and transportation to interact in prostitution. He’s pleaded not responsible.

The racketeering conspiracy cost exemplifies this exaggeration in relation to Diddy’s alleged drug use and intercourse life, he argued. Every day of the trial, jurors have heard about — and even seen movies from — “freak offs,” that are days-long intercourse marathons involving medication. The authorities charged his consumer with “one of the most serious, comprehensive” crimes by labeling “personal-use drugs and threesomes as racketeering,” Agnifilo informed the courtroom.

The protection legal professional started by hailing his consumer as a “self-made, successful Black entrepreneur” who many love. Just to emphasise that time, he famous that the phrase “love” has been spoken 881 occasions all through the trial. He then spent hours impeaching the credibility of presidency witnesses.

Diddy’s been accused of intercourse trafficking Cassie Ventura and his ex-girlfriend, who testified as ‘Jane’, from 2021 by 2024 .

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He asserted that Ventura “won” as a result of she acquired $20 million in a civil swimsuit towards Diddy. “Cassie is nobody’s fool,” Agnifilo repeated, taking direct goal on the prosecution who on Thursday referred to as her “naive.” The couple fought about jealousy and infidelity, however not about intercourse, Agnifilo stated. Texts between Ventura and Diddy present they have been on the identical web page about intercourse, he stated.

The authorities has argued Diddy’s violence and threats of violence towards Ventura are instantly linked to his intercourse trafficking of Ventura. “We own the domestic violence,” Agnifilo added.

When Ventura left Diddy in 2018, she made an “adult choice.” Agnifilo informed the courtroom: “She was always free to leave but she stayed because she loved him and he loved her.”

Agnifilo additionally took digs at Jane. On the stand, Jane admitted that Diddy nonetheless pays for her home and is paying for her lawyer. “I hope he’s having a nice day. I don’t know what she’s doing but I know she’s doing it in a nice house he’s paying for,” the legal professional stated. He additionally introduced up the dramatic June 2024 night time during which Jane slammed Diddy’s head towards a counter — solely to later be kicked and punched by the mogul. “There’s so much about this evening that doesn’t make sense,” Agnifilo argued, just like the timing of the night time, why it escalated so badly, and why she appeared to impress him not lengthy after Ventura filed her civil swimsuit.

He additionally spent a while questioning the credibility of Capricorn Clark, Diddy’s former worker who the federal government says was kidnapped twice by the mogul and his associates. One of those alleged kidnappings occurred in 2004 after three items of jewellery went lacking. Clark testified that for 5 days in a row, a member of Diddy’s safety drove from her home to a dilapidated constructing, the place she took lie detector checks and a big man threatened to throw her within the East River if she failed, earlier than she was pushed house. Speaking to the jury, Agnifilo requested sarcastically: “You guys sit here for long hours and then you go home. Do you feel kidnapped?! You aren’t kidnapped and neither was she.”

Agnifilo then turned to Mia, a former worker who testified underneath a pseudonym. She comes into play with the compelled labor and witness tampering acts of the racketeering conspiracy cost. Mia spoke very quietly and hardly regarded up when describing to the courtroom the occasions when the mogul allegedly sexually assaulted her.

“I think you have every reason to assume she put on a false persona in the courtroom,” Agnifilo informed the jury. He then recalled her heat social media posts about Diddy, a scrapbook she made for him, and her “bubbly” look in a social media video. “That was the real her,” he argued.

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As for the transportation to interact in prostitution, the legal professional identified that each escorts who took the stand disavowed being prostitutes whereas neither of them traveled throughout state traces to attend a “freak off.” Still, the federal government selected these witnesses: “This is the most perfect example in the whole case of the tale of two trials.”

The protection legal professional urged the jury to acquit his consumer: “He’s innocent. He sits here innocent. Return him to his family who have been waiting for him.” Toward the tip of his remarks, Agnifilo claimed the federal government “targeted” Diddy. The choose later instructed the jury that “the decision to indict the individual is not of your concern.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey then made an ardent rebuttal. She argued the defendant is making an attempt to “wiggle out” of the transportation to interact in prostitution costs. Not solely did the escorts testify that they made extra money after they have been in a position to carry out, however the regulation doesn’t require them to label themselves as “prostitutes.” Comey stated frequent sense suggests Diddy was flying the lads throughout the nation “not for their scintillating conversation. It was for sex.” She quipped: “Maybe some of the men wanted to have sex for free in front of a mass masturbating celebrity.”

As for Agnifilo’s accusations that Ventura, Jane and Mia have been mendacity, Comey stated that may imply that all of them perjured themselves. But there’s an issue with that concept, she stated, as a result of they haven’t any cause to lie. Referring to Ventura, Comey argued: “This is not a woman out for vengeance or money.” She famous that Ventura already settled her civil swimsuit and needed to sit by “grueling testimony” that included studying by sexts and recounting embarrassing particulars of her personal life.

Regarding Mia, Comey recalled her demeanor on the witness stand: “We all saw how she physically shrank when describing those assaults…No one’s handing out Oscars or Tonys for performances in this courtroom.” She additionally testified underneath a pseudonym, the prosecutor famous, so she clearly isn’t asking for fame or consideration.

The protection was “desperate to convince you Jane copied Cassie.” But she by no means sued, like Ventura, and if something, she has incentive to lie in favor of the defendant as a result of he’s nonetheless paying for her hire and her lawyer, Comey stated. “She was never trying to copy Cassie. She was just telling you the truth.”

The prosecutor then urged the jury to convict Diddy. The defendant obtained away with “crime after crime” for years and suffered no penalties, she argued. One of his former assistants described him as a “God among men,” Comey recalled: “And who would ever stand up to a god?” He didn’t expect his ex-girlfriends and former employees to testify against him, she believed. But the defendant “is not a god. He’s a person.”

Jury deliberations are anticipated to start subsequent week.