The decision follows several days of intensive questioning of prospective jurors by both prosecutors from the Southern District of New York and Diddy’s defense team.
Jury selection in Diddy’s federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial has been postponed until Monday (May 12), following several days of intensive questioning of prospective jurors by both prosecutors from the Southern District of New York and Diddy’s defense team.
The attorneys spent much of the week grilling potential jurors about their backgrounds and any prior knowledge of the case.
The delay raised concerns from U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian and Diddy’s lawyers, who believe some jurors will get “cold feet” over the weekend, given the high-profile nature of the case.
In response, the remaining pool of 43 candidates will be narrowed down on Monday morning to a final panel of 12 jurors and six alternates, who’ll decide the Bad Boy Records mogul’s fate. Opening statements are scheduled to begin immediately after the jury is sworn in, around 9:30 a.m. ET.
Judge Subramanian has emphasized his expectation that the trial, projected to last about eight weeks, will proceed according to schedule. Prosecutors have highlighted the urgency of calling a key witness, referred to as Victim-1, early in the proceedings.
While court documents don’t name the person, it’s widely understood that Victim-1 is Diddy’s ex-girlfriend, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura.
The identities of the jurors will remain confidential, with their names withheld from the public. However, the jury won’t be sequestered, so members are expected to avoid media coverage and refrain from discussing the case outside the courtroom.
Diddy was actively involved in the jury selection process. At one point, he shook his head when a potential juror admitted to watching a recent documentary about him, laughed when one man admitted he’d have a tough time forgoing marijuana for the trial and nodded when he appeared to approve of certain people, including a woman who was arrested for shoplifting a wand from Harry Potter World.
Diddy has been locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his September 2024 arrest and hasn’t been heard from until earlier this week, when he admitted he was a “little nervous” as proceedings began. He faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted on five felony charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty.
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