5 months ago
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NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs are urging a justice to fto prospective jurors astatine the hip-hop mogul's upcoming enactment trafficking proceedings beryllium questioned astir their views regarding sex, drugs and violence.
The lawyers raised the taxable arsenic they submitted a projected questionnaire to beryllium filled retired by individuals summoned for his May 5 proceedings successful Manhattan national court.
In a missive to a justice precocious Friday, the lawyers said they privation to cognize the willingness of would-be jurors to ticker videos that are sexually explicit oregon amusement carnal assault. They besides accidental they privation to cognize their views toward radical with aggregate intersexual partners.
Prosecutors successful a missive of their ain criticized the defense's projected questionnaire arsenic excessively agelong and touching connected subjects that would beryllium amended asked successful idiosyncratic by the judge, if astatine all.
They said immoderate of the defense's projected 72 questions, immoderate containing subparts, were “utterly irrelevant to the quality to service connected a jury.”
Prosecutors besides cited the enactment trafficking proceedings of Ghislaine Maxwell arsenic an illustration of however a lengthy questionnaire tin beryllium damaging.
After Maxwell was convicted of enactment trafficking successful December 2021, a juror admitted that helium had failed to disclose that helium was a enactment maltreatment victim, blaming his oversight successful portion connected being “distracted arsenic helium filled retired the questionnaire" and having “skimmed mode excessively fast,” causing him to misunderstand questions.
Judge Arun Subramanian has told lawyers that questionnaires volition beryllium distributed to hundreds of prospective jurors astatine the extremity of April truthful that questioning of prospective jurors tin statesman connected May 5, with opening statements apt connected May 12.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not blameworthy to allegations that helium subjected individuals to intersexual maltreatment implicit a two-decade period. The Bad Boy Records laminitis has remained incarcerated without bail since his September arrest.
An indictment accuses Combs of utilizing the “power and prestige” helium wielded arsenic a euphony mogul to intimidate, endanger and lure women into his orbit, often nether the pretense of a romanticist relationship.
The indictment said helium past utilized force, threats and coercion to origin victims, including 3 women specified successful the tribunal papers, to prosecute successful commercialized enactment acts.
It said helium subjected his victims to violence, threats of violence, threats of fiscal and reputational harm and verbal abuse.
Prosecutors person said that a cardinal portion of the grounds astatine proceedings volition beryllium a video showing Combs punching his erstwhile protege and girlfriend, the R&B vocalist Cassie, and throwing her connected the level successful a edifice hallway.
Defense lawyers person argued that prosecutors built their lawsuit connected charges that effort to demonize enactment acts betwixt consenting adults.
They told the justice they were incapable to scope a statement with prosecutors for what prospective jurors should beryllium asked connected questionnaires.
“The defence believes it is important that we let imaginable jurors to constitute candidly astir the unprecedented and antagonistic media attraction that they whitethorn person been exposed to, related to Mr. Combs,” the lawyers wrote.
Defense lawyers besides asked that jurors beryllium asked to archer if they've watched shows connected tv titled: “The Fall of Diddy,” “Diddy Do It?” “The Downfall of Diddy” and “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy.”
