Hundreds of New Yorkers summoned by jury will appear in federal court in Manhattan this week to complete the questionnaire ahead of Sean Diddy’s comb’s sex trafficking trial.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who is overseeing the case, plans to select a jury next Monday. Combs pleaded not guilty to allegations of sexual trafficking, extortion and transportation.
COMBS's legal team and federal prosecutors raised the proposed questions to the court on Friday in a separate motion. Both parties have consensus on which prospective jurors should be required.
The prosecutor argued that the proposed 72-question investigation comb's team submitted on April 11 was too long and it covered personal topics such as sexual assault, sexual abuse and domestic violence, and the judge should ask in person, if any.
Combs attorney Marc Agnifilo told Subramanian this month that his legal team believes prospective jurors should have the option to make such disclosures in writing or in person.
"It's very clear that these questions will be asked, and the real questions are when and where," Subramanian said at the hearing.
As a compromise, prosecutors proposed adding a box to the investigation to allow people to point out whether they prefer to address these topics in person.
The questionnaire has not been made public, so it is not clear whether the box is included in the final version. The jury will select 12 people and six substitutes.
Jury consultant Jo-Ellan Dimitrius said that once prospective jurors fill out the questionnaire, the court will handle it to federal prosecutors and the legal team of combs. Daniel Penny, a former Marine, was acquitted of the death of a man on the New York City subway. And, most famously, OJ Simpson.
Dimitrius said before the jury selection begins, both parties and the Subelamanians will discuss who should be forgiven for prejudice or because they say that serving in the jury would constitute financial difficulties or conflict of planning.
Opening instructions are scheduled to begin on May 12; the trial is expected to last eight to 10 weeks.
Both sides want to know what potential jurors know about the case, which alleges that inhibit women from participating in drug-driven, well-planned intercourse with male sex workers, which he calls “freak offs.”
Prosecutors argued that he arranged, directed, masturbated and often recorded freaks electronically. The allegations of "Victim 1" in the indictment are very consistent with the allegations of his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura.
Dimitrius is Harvey Weinstein's jury consultant in Manhattan.
Dimitrius said a hired jury consultant will also review the questionnaire, record prospective jurors and rate their applicability. Advisors were also paid to outline any potential issues and responses worth following up.
Jury consultants Dimitrius and Michael Boucher analyzed jurors for two defamation trials by Sarah Palin, who said both sides would search for potential jurors’ social media accounts to see if they expressed their opinions or endorse their opinions on the case and its case.
Dimitrius said that given his celebrity status, lawyers will also be concerned about jurors’ knowledge of music tycoons who created bad boy records.
"Did they listen to his music? Do they follow what they might follow in the news about his existence?" she said.
Ventura sued Comb in November 2023, accusing him of years of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. The two quickly settled the lawsuit privately, and Combs strongly denied the charges.
A few months later, CNN released a video of a comb attacking Ventura in the corridor of a hotel in Los Angeles in March 2016. After Combs made public, Combs apologized for his actions in the video.
In its pursuit of excluding it from trial, Agnefilo noted in court documents that the video was “completely inaccurate and had been altered, manipulated, accelerated and edited into super-order.”
CNN denies that it changed the video.
Ventura is expected to be the main witness in the trial.
Subramanian ruled Friday that videotapes could be displayed to jurors and brought setbacks to Combs' legal team, which tried to stop it.
Boucher said the comb would be difficult to overcome the video.
"Most people, 99% of this society will say, 'That's wrong; you don't do that.' "You're going to have to work for that very minority, and they're going to pass the ball to him based on emotional reactions. ”