Last week, a federal jury in Manhattan found Combs guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution while acquitting him on more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
The hip-hop mogul's legal saga has reached an uneasy outcome. Despite a tainted legacy and severed business ties, does his acquittal on the most serious charges leave room for a return?
The music mogul was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution, but the jury found him not guilty on three counts related to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.
After 12 hours of deliberation, the jury told Judge Arun Subramanian that it had decided on counts related to sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution but not yet on racketeering.
The hip-hop mogul faces an overlapping set of charges that include sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. The jury resumes deliberations on Tuesday.
Defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo called the tumultuous relationship between Combs and singer Cassie Ventura "a great modern love story," and sought to dismantle the credibility of key witnesses.
For weeks, federal prosecutors have laid out their case against Sean Combs in a Manhattan courtroom. His attorneys should begin presenting their defense on Tuesday. They aren't expected to take long.
Combs did not take the stand as the case for his defense concluded. In lieu of witnesses, his team built on previous cross-examination to claim that his relationships were consensual and not coercive.
The meandering trial of the hip-hop mogul can be difficult to parse. Here's a broad overview of the charges and the case the government has presented to the jury.
Judge Arun Subramanian said that the juror's conflicting statements about which state he currently resides in may have been an attempt to get on and stay on the federal trial of the hip-hop mogul.
The woman, who dated Combs, testified that she repeatedly told him she did not want to participate in the drug-fueled encounters with escorts he requested, but felt pressured to comply.
On Thursday, a woman identified as "Jane" testified that Combs, who she says she dated until he was arrested in 2024, the hip-hop mogul pressured her into sexual encounters with male escorts.
The prosecution pushed back on the defense's aggressive questioning of a former Combs employee, saying harassment of the witness might intimidate others taking the stand.
On Tuesday, Clark, who worked for Combs for more than a decade, accused him of kidnapping her during a chaotic 2011 episode involving his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, and the rapper Kid Cudi.
The relationship between Combs and his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, has been the focus of the prosecution's case so far, but the charges he faces are bigger and broader.
