{"id":6652,"date":"2025-06-25T03:07:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T03:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/rap-mogul-opts-not-to-testify\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T03:07:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T03:07:16","slug":"rap-mogul-opts-not-to-testify","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/rap-mogul-opts-not-to-testify\/","title":{"rendered":"Rap Mogul Opts Not to Testify"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

\n\tT<\/span>he federal sex-trafficking trial of Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs is winding to a close. Jurors have seen all the evidence, and a verdict could come soon now that the disgraced music mogul has officially decided not to take the stand in his own defense.<\/p>\n

\n\tCombs has been on trial for over a month on the bombshell charges that he used violence, money and blackmail to force women to participate in drug-fueled sex shows called \u201cfreak-offs.\u201d The rapper, who maintains his innocence, could face a potential life sentence if convicted on all counts.<\/p>\n

\n\tProsecutors rested on Tuesday (June 24) after a Homeland Security agent finished testifying, the New York Times<\/a> <\/em>reports. The government has built its case with videos, text messages and dozens of witnesses \u2013 most crucially, singer Cassie Ventura and an anonymous women known as \u201cJane,\u201d both ex-girlfriends of Combs who testified that they were coerced into participating in the freak-offs.<\/p>\n

\n\tCombs\u2019 lawyers did not call any witnesses of their own and spent less than half an hour reading text messages into the record before resting the defense case as well. Combs opted not to testify, a common decision made by the majority of criminal defendants due to the risks that come with opening oneself up to cross-examination.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs is typical in these situations, Judge Arun Subramanian asked Combs himself to confirm that he had personally chosen not to testify and understood the right he was forfeiting.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat is solely my decision,\u201d Combs said, adding as an aside to the judge, \u201cI wanted to tell you, thank you, you\u2019re doing an excellent job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThough Combs\u2019 lawyers didn\u2019t call witnesses, they\u2019ve made the case throughout the trial that the rapper\u2019s sex parties were entirely consensual. The defense presented this perspective through intense cross-examination of Ventura and Jane, focusing on text messages where the two women seemed to convey enthusiasm for Combs\u2019 freak-offs.<\/p>\n

\n\tDefense lawyer Alexandra Shapiro reiterated this argument while making a motion for acquittal as a matter of law to Judge Subramanian on Tuesday. According to CNN<\/a><\/em>, Shapiro acknowledged that Combs was \u201cregrettably violent\u201d towards Ventura but said domestic violence is not the same as sex trafficking.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cA person in Mr. Combs\u2019 position clearly would\u2019ve understood that, on the contrary, she enjoyed the sexual activity and did not feel coerced,\u201d Shapiro said.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe judge reserved his decision on the acquittal motion. Such motions are rarely granted, but useful for defense attorneys who want to build a strong trial record for appeal.<\/p>\n

\n\tJurors get a day off now, as the lawyers are slated to spend Wednesday (June 25) hammering our legal instructions with Judge Subramanian. Closing arguments are slated to begin Thursday (June 26) and last for at least an entire day.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe judge will then have to read his lengthy legal instructions to the jury, a process that often lasts multiple hours. This means deliberations could start either late in the day Friday or Monday morning \u2013 though how long it will take the jury to agree unanimously on a verdict is anyone\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The federal sex-trafficking trial of Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs is winding to a close. Jurors have seen all the evidence, and a verdict could come soon now that the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6372,2481,2271,3817],"class_list":["post-6652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lawyers","tag-mogul","tag-opts","tag-rap","tag-testify"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}