P Diddy trial: Federal prosecutors seek to demonstrate a ‘pattern of racketeering activity’

P Diddy trial: Federal prosecutors seek to demonstrate a ‘pattern of racketeering activity’

to the US now on the trial of hip hop entrepreneur Shaun Diddy Combmes whose incredibly successful career has been dotted by allegations of violence against women begins later today in New York. He’s facing charges that he used the influence and resources of his business empire to sexually abuse scores of women. Jury selection is scheduled to begin this Monday, although potentially it could take several days. Joining me now from Washington is Eric Lasanne, a legal analyst and former US federal prosecutor. Eric, thank you so much for your time. As the New York Times writes, Shan Kums is facing the most serious challenge to what has largely been a charmed life. So, how consequential is this trial for America’s entertainment industry? Well, this is going to be the first trial in which somebody of his profile is going to face life in prison if he’s convicted of all the charges. In some ways, it’s reminiscent of the OJ Simpson trial, which in its time also captured all the headlines. this one maybe doesn’t yet approach that because in the mainstream u as he’s known often maybe doesn’t quite have that profile but he does have a very large profile. The other thing that may be restricting the audience that sees it is the fact that this is in federal court and not a state court. And in federal court, the rules are very strict still regarding TV cameras. Uh uh namely, they won’t allow the live television cameras to cover the trial directly from inside the courthouse. So that is also somewhat of a limitation. But other than that, somebody of his stature facing life in prison is obviously going to be something that uh is a uh media uh event. And as you pointed out there, it is being held in a federal court, which is extremely unusual for a trial like this, isn’t it? Yes, it is very unusual. And we’ll have to watch the evidence to see if that fact is indicative of some sort of a possible deficiency in the evidence such that a state court or a state prosecutor wouldn’t have brought this case. This is charged under a special federal statute predominantly uh what’s called RICO colloquially. It stands for racketeer influence corrupt organizations. It’s often used to bring down larger criminal enterprises. Originally it was designed for organized crimes such as the mafia but in over the decade it’s been used for many other types of activities and individuals. So this indicates that here the prosecutors have uh the strong belief that they can show a pattern of racketeering activity so that this wouldn’t be just a one-off. This would be in fact something that’s gone uh spanned an extensive period of time and events. Eric, the extent of these charges goes back decades. So how difficult has that been for prosecutors in terms of gathering evidence? Well, in some ways it’s probably helped them because it’s allowed them to contact a number of people and and have other people come forward. This initially started as a result of a civil lawsuit between uh Diddy and an ex-girlfriend and uh and the publication of that or the publicity surrounding that allowed others to bring their own lawsuits. And as so often happens in these types of cases, uh the event sort of snowballed or the evidence sort of snowballed. So, so the length of period of time in in that way helped because it allowed them to go back and get further uh evidence that corroborates the the ongoing allegations cuz it’s going to be still at its core sort of a he said she said type of a situation because he’s going to claim and already has claimed that all of this is consensual activity. And just finally, what is the situation in regards to jury selection? I mean, how important is it in a case such as this one? It’s extremely important because the jurors bring their own life experiences and biases and perceptions into the courtroom. But of course, as we saw in New York state court, it wasn’t federal court, but it was state court and largely a similar type of jury pool just uh about a year ago in the case of Donald Trump who was charged uh in a uh Manhattan state court. The jurors can be instructed to follow the law and they and they can do so. In that case, the jury selection went relatively quickly. It was also a case of uh where there was extensive publicity and the defendant was obviously extremely wellknown and people would have brought their own biases into the courtroom but they were instructed to leave those aside and just focus on the evidence. So using that as a guide we can see that if the evidence is there the jurors can still follow that evidence and and apply the law in a logical and uh fair manner. Eric Lissan, an American legal analyst. Thank you so much for your input.

A year and a half after Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former partner accused him of sex trafficking in a civil suit, the music mogul faces jury selection Monday in a criminal trial that could lead to a life sentence. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation for prostitution. He also denies abuse claims in over 50 civil lawsuits. For deeper insight into this landmark case, FRANCE 24’s Annette Young speaks with legal analyst and former US federal prosecutor Eric Lisann.
#Diddy #RICO #RacketeeringTrial

🔔 Subscribe to France 24 now: https://f24.my/YTen
🔴 LIVE – Watch FRANCE 24 English 24/7 here: https://f24.my/YTliveEN

🌍 Read the latest International News and Top Stories: https://www.france24.com/en/

Like us on Facebook: https://f24.my/FBen
Follow us on X: https://f24.my/Xen
Bluesky: https://f24.my/BSen and Threads: https://f24.my/THen
Browse the news in pictures on Instagram: https://f24.my/IGen
Discover our TikTok videos: https://f24.my/TKen
Get the latest top stories on Telegram: https://f24.my/TGen