Jury to maintain deliberating after deadlocking on most severe cost

[ad_1] Sakshi Venkatraman and Madeline Halpert BBC Information

Reporting fromCourthouse in New York Watch: BBC reporter inside court docket as Diddy jury reaches partial verdict

The jury within the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs will hold deliberating after reaching a partial verdict, however deadlocking on probably the most severe cost confronted by the hip-hop mogul.

On the federal court docket in New York, the 12 jurors introduced that they had agreed on 4 of the 5 counts, however have been unable to resolve on the racketeering cost, which carries a potential life jail time period.

The ambiance was tense because the rapper sat with head bowed, palms folded in his lap. His attorneys sometimes put their arms round him. Deliberations will resume on Wednesday morning.

Mr Combs, 55, has pleaded not responsible to all 5 costs, together with intercourse trafficking, racketeering and transportation to interact in prostitution.

Over the previous two months, the jury has heard from 34 witnesses, together with ex-girlfriends, former staff of Mr Combs, male escorts and federal brokers.

At round 16:30 EDT on Tuesday (20:30 GMT), the jury introduced that they had reached a verdict on 4 of the 5 counts, after two days of deliberations.

The panel stated they could not come to an settlement on the racketeering cost as a result of jurors on either side have opinions which are unmovable.

Choose Arun Subramanian heard arguments from each the prosecution and the rapper's defence attorneys on the right way to proceed, earlier than urging the jurors to maintain attempting to return to a unanimous choice. Their verdicts on the opposite 4 counts weren't disclosed.

The prosecution urged the choose to make use of an Allen cost, which is a set of directions given to a hung jury to press its members to achieve a unanimous choice.

Allen costs are controversial, as some consider they will put undue stress on juries, forcing them to alter their stances or cave to look stress - particularly when their opinion is within the minority.

The jury will return on Wednesday, and will doubtlessly proceed deliberating on 3 July - when the court docket is often closed forward of the 4 July public vacation.

Watch: The BBC's Nomia Iqbal explains racketeering as jurors divided on cost

The panel's unanimous choice on many of the counts after lower than two days of deliberations may very well be an excellent signal for prosecutors, Robert Mintz, a prison defence lawyer and former federal prosecutor advised the BBC.

However to achieve a conviction on the racketeering cost, prosecutors wanted to show that Mr Combs established a prison enterprise - a co-ordinated plan between the musician and no less than one different particular person to commit no less than two crimes over a span of a number of years.

"That was at all times going to be probably the most difficult cost for prosecutors to get a conviction on," Mr Mintz stated.

"It is a very difficult cost, used usually up to now in organised crime prosecution and so it is not shocking that that's the one cost giving the jury probably the most problem."

The defendant has additionally passed by the names Puffy, Puff Daddy, P Diddy, Love and Brother Love.

He used his stature within the trade to discovered his profitable Sean John clothes line and starred in a number of actuality TV reveals, together with one the place contestants competed to grow to be a part of his band.

In 2023, he launched his fifth file The Love Album: Off The Grid and earned his first solo nomination on the Grammy awards. He additionally was named a International Icon on the MTV Awards.