It was 9:52 a.m. Wednesday, July 2, when the note arrived from the jury in Sean Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial. The mogul’s lawyers broke their huddle and walked to the holding room to retrieve their client. As Combs returned to the courtroom, he looked at his family and gave them an assuring nod of his head, as if to say, “It’s all gonna be OK.”
After 28 days of often-harrowing testimony and 13 hours of deliberations, the jury had finally reached a verdict.
Both Combs and federal prosecutors had arrived in court Wednesday knowing a decision was imminent. The previous evening, the jury revealed that they’d reached a verdict on four of the five charges against Combs, but remained divided on the racketeering count. On instructions from Judge Arun Subramanian, they returned to the federal district courthouse in Manhattan at 9 a.m. this morning to finish the job.
Combs, too, made a brief appearance in court first thing Wednesday morning. He spent a few minutes looking over documents with his legal team, and by 9:30 a.m. ET, his mother Janice, six of his children and some of their girlfriends had shuffled in, taking up the entire second row of the gallery.
Before going back to the holding room, Combs greeted his loved ones, telling them to “stay strong.” Bowing his head, Combs led them in a brief prayer. “God bless the jurors,” he pleaded. “God, please watch over my family.”
“Amen,” Combs concluded and the family loudly clapped before Combs was led away by the U.S. Marshal Service.
Combs and his family did not have to wait much longer. Upon returning to the courtroom after the jury filed their notice, Combs looked happy and confident as he read from a printout of Psalm 11, which ends with the lines, “For the Lord is righteous/He loves justice/the upright will see his face.” His family, meanwhile, sat nervously behind him on the edge of their seats.
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While Combs began to show some nerves as the jury sat, they quickly evaporated. When the jury declared him “not guilty” of racketeering, the mogul let out a massive sigh and pumped his fist by his side. His family gasped and a few cheers escaped.
As the not guilty verdicts came in on the two sex trafficking charges, Combs continued to vibrate with joy and disbelief. He smiled even as the jury convicted him on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He gave his defense attorney, Teny Geragos, a hug and a kiss, then turned to his family and said, “We’ll be OK, I’m coming home.”
And as the jury began to file out, Combs clasped his hands and, gesturing towards them, said, “Thank you, thank you.”
The mixed verdict for Combs is a stunning end for the blockbuster trial. Since Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed her bombshell lawsuit against him in November 2023, Combs had been heavily embattled, facing not only federal charges, but a mountain of civil lawsuits from other accusers. (He quickly settled the suit filed by Ventura, but others remain ongoing.) While Combs has copped to some criminal behavior, including domestic violence and drug use, he has largely maintained his innocence.
Despite the mixed verdict, Combs could still face prison time on the two prostitution convictions, with each Mann Act violation carrying a sentence of up to 10 years. But it’s unlikely that Judge Subramanian will hand down the most severe punishment possible given Combs’ lack of a criminal record. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Meanwhile, Combs continues to wait and find out if he will be remanded back to custody or if he will be released from jail on bond as he awaits sentencing. After the verdicts were read, the prosecution and defense immediately began arguing the matter, and Subramanian is expected to make a decision later today.
At one point, before the government and defense argued over his release, Combs turned to his family, dropped to his knees, and began to pray once more, elbows on the chair where he’d been sitting for the past eight weeks.
From Rolling Stone US
