BBC News
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal team rested their case in his sex trafficking trial on Tuesday after making arguments for only about 20 minutes.
Their short presentation followed nearly seven weeks of arguments and witness testimony brought by federal prosecutors in New York. The prosecution finished making their case Tuesday afternoon.
His defence attorneys argued that the government has failed to meet the burden in proving any of the charges against him, which he’s vehemently denied, and the judge should drop the case against him.
Mr Combs also confirmed to the court that he would not take the stand in his own trial. “It’s my decision with my lawyers” not to testify, he told the judge.
Mr Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He faces up to life in prison if convicted in the scheme.
Speaking for the first time in court in weeks on Tuesday, Mr Combs told Judge Arun Subramanian that he was “doing an excellent job”.
“I want to tell you thank you,” the rapper told the judge.
Prosecutors have alleged Mr Combs used his celebrity status and business empire to run a criminal enterprise to sex traffic women and conceal his crimes. During their arguments, the government called more than 30 witnesses to the stand.
ReutersThe defence called none, instead submitting into evidence several text messages between Mr Combs and his ex-girlfriends, singer Casandra Ventura, and another victim who testified under the pseudonym Jane.
It is always difficult for defence teams to decide whether to call any fact witnesses to the stand, said Mitchell Epner, a New York-based lawyer and former prosecutor.
Calling new witnesses can introduce more problems for the defence – and having Mr Combs take the stand would have been an even riskier move, hanging the case mostly on his testimony, Mr Epner said.
Instead, Mr Combs’ lawyers gave a quick presentation, showing messages in an attempt to bolster their argument that Mr Combs’ girlfriends were willing participants in sexual encounters with him and male escorts, which were called freak-offs.
In one text message to Mr Combs that his attorneys read aloud, Jane told him “I always have fun” during their freak-offs, or what she called “hotel nights”.
The quick defence case came after Mr Combs’ legal team filed a motion asking the court to acquit their client, claiming the government had not met their burden in proving any of the charges, including sex trafficking and racketeering.
His attorney Alexandra Shapiro argued that the victims in the case were capable women who could have left on their own accord, giving a hint of the points the legal team is likely to present during closing arguments scheduled later this week on Thursday and Friday.
Mr Combs was “regrettably violent, but domestic violence is not sex trafficking”, Ms Shapiro said.
Prosecutors have argued Mr Combs’ ex-girlfriends were coerced into unwanted sex acts with drugs, violence and other means.