Why jury selection in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ trial will be more challenging than your average case
Sean "Diddy" Combs sits with members of his defense team Teny Geragos and Alexandra Shapiro for a conference ahead of his trial on April 18.
By Sandra Gonzalez
(CNN) — Sean Combs, a music mogul who once topped the charts before experiencing his headline-grabbing fall, will be present in a New York court on Monday to watch as attorneys attempt to select a jury of his peers who will decide his fate amid a slew of federal charges.
The challenge, says one expert: Finding a jury that will listen to the facts and, to the best of their ability, render a fair verdict for a man who is a defendant, not a man known to many as Diddy.
“This is the rare case where you have to go into it assuming that every potential juror knows who the defendant is and knows something about the case and probably has some predisposition about the case,” CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said in a recent interview. “And so the task of jury selection is to weed out people who simply cannot put aside what they already know and believe and can’t render a fair verdict.”
Combs faces five counts on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted on all counts, he could face life in prison.
Combs, who has has been in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn since his September 2024 arrest, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
CNN previously reported that the pool of prospective jurors could be questioned on topics that include their views on sex with multiple partners, drugs and hip-hop. They may also be asked their feelings, beliefs or experiences related to intimate partner violence, cheating in a relationship, prostitution, the distribution of illegal drugs and the music industry, according to court filings reviewed by CNN.
Headlines about the case have at times focused on its more lurid details, like the roughly 1,000 bottles of baby oil and personal lubricant seized from his home during a March 2024 search conducted by federal authorities. Then there’s the dozens of civil cases that have been filed against Combs from alleged victims, including people who were minors at the time of the alleged incidents, who claim they were drugged and sexually assaulted by the embattled music mogul. (Combs has denied all the allegations.)
While the civil suits are not part of Combs’ federal criminal trial, it will be a challenge to know how much, if at all, jurors are familiar with them.
“It’s become almost a universal punchline that nobody wants to be associated with Sean Combs,” Honig, a former federal and state prosecutor, said. “I think that’s a concern for the defense, but there always is this sort of fascination with celebrities, good or bad. And there are people whose judgment can be clouded a bit either way.”
For example, he said, the prosecution might attempt to remove from a pool any prospective juror who seems to idolize Combs or “has remained loyal to (him) as a fan.” Alternately, they may also attempt to remove a potential juror who “displays some negativity towards the alleged victims and their motives.”
Prosectors and defense will both try to fill the jury box with individuals they believe are inclined to see the case in their favor.
The voir dire process involves two types of dismissals – so-called for cause dismissals and peremptory strikes. The judge determines those excused for cause while attorneys for both sides are allowed a certain number of preemptory strikes, which are used strategically.
“This is part of the strategic game that we’ll see playing out,” Honig said.
Combs’ trial is expected to last several weeks.
Once the jury is seated, the judge will instruct them to avoid media coverage of the case for the duration of the trial to help ensure the jury’s verdict is based strictly upon the testimony and exhibits received in evidence at trial.
This is an instruction that has become more difficult – if not impossible – in the age of Tiktok and social media, Honig said, and is “especially a challenge for the defense because the coverage of the case has been so overwhelmingly – I’m not saying unduly – but overwhelmingly negative towards Sean Combs.”
That said, “our courts are equipped for this,” he emphasized.
“There’s nothing that the courts haven’t dealt with before, but it’s a challenge.”
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CNN’s Megan Thomas, Elizabeth Wagmeister, Kara Scannell and Lauren del Valle contributed to this report.
