Diddy‘s racketeering and sex trafficking trial is underway, but folks looking to see what’s happening in the courtroom are out of luck as there is no livestream available for viewing.
People can’t get a front row seat like other highly publicized trials because Diddy is facing federal charges, and by law, cameras and any other electronic devices are strictly banned in the federal courtroom. Diddy’s federal charges include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation for prostitution. He’s facing 15 years in prison if convicted.
According to the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, the court “must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.”
All that people can rely on with Diddy’s case are court sketches and coverage from traditional news outlets and networks such as Law&Crime and Court TV. Various social media accounts are also covering the trial through live tweets, such as The Inner City Press.
Highly-publicized trials that weren’t federal allowed viewers into the courtroom, such as the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard defamation case, which dominated headlines in 2022. The civil trial held in the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia was all over social media as cameras were allowed to highlight every statement, testimony, evidence, and more.
The first high-profile trial to be televised was the late O.J. Simpson‘s murder case in 1995. The murder case was a state trial in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, as the State of California charged Simpson.
