A jury will begin deliberations over the fate of Sean “Diddy” Combs after hearing wildly differing views from prosecutors and a defence lawyer over whether he engaged in sex trafficking for two decades.
Combs, 55, the founder of Bad Boy Entertainment, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges in the trial, which continues on Monday when the judge will read instructions to jurors before they begin deliberations.
Two prosecutors insisted that he had coerced, threatened and sometimes viciously forced two ex-girlfriends to have sex with male sex workers to satisfy his sexual urges. They cited multiple acts of violence he carried out against them as proof that they had no say.
A defence lawyer mocked the government’s closing argument and warned that prosecutors were employing a novel approach to sex crimes that risked turning the swinger lifestyle that Combs and his girlfriends enjoyed into potential crimes for all Americans.
When Assistant US Attorney Christy Slavik launched closings on Thursday, she gave the allegations of arson and kidnapping a starring role in her first sentences, naming them before any others.
Defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo spared few theatrics in mocking the government’s case against Combs as overreach, saying hundreds of agents poured into Combs’ residences in Miami and Los Angeles to seize hundreds of bottles of baby oil and Astroglide lubricant.
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