Diddy’s legal team demanded a mistrial Wednesday after a Los Angeles arson investigator’s testimony linked him to a suspected Molotov cocktail attack.
Diddy faced a dramatic courtroom moment Wednesday (May 28) as his defense team called for a mistrial over testimony from a Los Angeles arson investigator who described a suspected Molotov cocktail attack on a Porsche tied to the case.
The motion came after arson specialist Lance Jimenez told jurors he believed someone intentionally set the car ablaze by cutting a hole in the roof and dropping a flaming bottle.
He testified that the bottle was an Olde English 800 malt liquor container with a silky designer scarf used as a wick. He also mentioned finding a lighter and a burned handkerchief inside the vehicle.
Jimenez said he was told the partial DNA profile recovered from the scene was consistent with a female contributor, though he admitted he didn’t understand the implications of that information.
He also confirmed that the fingerprint cards from the investigation were destroyed in 2012 at the request of someone within the LAPD, not his team.
Defense attorneys for Diddy argued that prosecutors crossed the line by suggesting Diddy may have authorized the destruction of those fingerprint records.
Lead attorney Alexandra Shapiro told the judge the only proper remedy was a mistrial.
Prosecutors pushed back, saying the defense had opened the door to the line of questioning by raising issues related to the investigation.
The judge denied the mistrial request, stating that objections had been sustained and that the jurors had already been instructed not to treat the questions as evidence.
The mistrial motion followed explosive testimony Tuesday (May 14) from Capricorn Clark, Diddy’s former assistant, who claimed the music mogul once drove to Kid Cudi’s home with a gun and declared he intended to kill the rapper.
Clark said the incident occurred in December 2011 after Diddy became enraged over Cudi’s relationship with Cassie Ventura, who had also dated Diddy.
Clark also testified that Diddy threatened her life after discovering she had previously worked for his longtime rival, Suge Knight.
“He told me that he didn’t know that I had anything to do with Suge Knight and that if anything happened, he would have to kill me,” she said.
Diddy, 55, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges, including sex trafficking, racketeering and transporting individuals for prostitution. The trial is set to continue this week in New York federal court.
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