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Agence France-Presse

The first day of jury selection wrapped Monday in New York in the blockbuster federal sex-trafficking trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who stands accused of years of harrowing abuse.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty on all counts, insisting that any sex acts were consensual, but prosecutors say that for years, he coerced victims into drug-fuelled sex parties using threats and violence.
“Come on up, don’t be shy,” Judge Arun Subramanian said as the first batch of prospective panellists entered at Manhattan federal court.
As at his pre-trial hearings, Combs appeared aged, his once jet-black hair now grey. In accordance with the judge’s order, he was allowed to switch from prison attire to civilian clothing for his trial appearance.

Jurors were given a supplementary 14-part questionnaire about their ability to fairly hear evidence from hip-hop artists, sex workers, and people involved in the use and distribution of drugs.
They had already undertaken an exhaustive questionnaire on their ability to serve before arrival.
After a marathon day of questions, both written and oral from the judge, prosecution and defence, 19 prospective jurors had been identified.
Jury selection was due to continue on Tuesday with only those potential jurors requested to attend follow-up questioning required to be present.
Subramanian said he expected evidence to begin on May 12.
Combs faces one charge of racketeering conspiracy, the federal statute known by its acronym RICO that was once primarily used to target the mafia but in recent years has been wielded in cases of sexual abuse, including against the fallen R&B star R Kelly.

It allows government lawyers to project a long view of criminal activity rather than prosecuting isolated sex crimes.
If convicted, the one-time rap producer and global superstar, who is often credited for his role in ushering hip-hop into the mainstream, could spend the rest of his life in prison.
He reportedly turned down an 11th-hour plea deal.
Over the decades, Combs – who has gone by various stage names including Puff Daddy and P Diddy – amassed enormous wealth for his work in music but also his ventures in the alcohol industry.
He was arrested by federal agents in New York in September 2024 and denied bail multiple times.
Combs is being held at Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Centre, a facility plagued by complaints of vermin and decay as well as violence.

Core to the case against him is his relationship with his former girlfriend, singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who is expected to be a key trial witness.
A disturbing surveillance video from 2016, which was widely broadcast by CNN last year, shows Combs physically assaulting Ventura at a hotel.
Prosecutors say that encounter took place after one of the “freak-offs” – coercive, drug-fuelled sexual marathons including sex workers that were sometimes filmed, according to the indictment.
It is unclear how much of the CNN video will be shown to jurors as evidence – the quality of the footage has been a sticking point between the opposing legal teams – but Subramanian has ruled that at least some of it will be admissible.
On Monday, one prospective juror was struck out for cause by the judge after describing the video as potentially “damning”.
Another was dismissed after saying that his wife, a former lawyer, had told him about taking depositions related to a deadly crowd crush at an event organised by Combs in 1991.
“She found his behaviour disturbing, she does not like him,” said the man.
In 2023, Ventura filed a civil suit alleging Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs as well as a 2018 rape.
It was quickly settled out of court, but a string of similarly lurid sexual assault claims against the Grammy winner from both women and men followed.
Industry watchers are monitoring Combs’ case as a potential inflection point in the music world which, beyond the case of Kelly, has largely evaded the #MeToo reckoning that has rocked Hollywood.
Caroline Heldman – co-founder of the Sound Off Coalition, which is focused on sexual violence in music – said Combs’ case is a flashpoint of a broader pattern of industry tolerance and cover-up of abuse.
“In the music industry, I think it’s the perfect storm of what celebrity does to people and what power does to people. It gives them an empathy deficit where the rules don’t apply to them,” she said.
The proceedings will last an estimated eight to 10 weeks.


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Crime

First day of jury selection wraps in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sex crimes trial

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs embraces one of his lawyers in this courtroom sketch. Image: Jane Rosenberg via Reuters

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in court. Image: Jane Rosenberg via Reuters

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in 2018. File photo: AFP

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs attacking singer Casandra ‘Cassie’ Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016. File photo: CNN via AP

Inside the abusive world of Japanese nursing: ‘violence was common’

Students of Japanese nursing schools attend a candlelight procession before a Florence Nightingale Medal awarding ceremony in Tokyo. Photo: AFP

Japanese actress Ryoko Hirosue at an event in Tokyo in 2022. Photo: WireImage

An elderly man gets vaccinated in Osaka, western Japan. Former nurse Yoko Tsukamoto cites physical assault and sexual harassment as among the problems faced by medical staff in Japan’s hospitals. Photo: Kyodo News via AP

Healthcare professionals with an elderly patient in Tokyo. A recent study shows more than 40 per cent of medical and welfare sector staff have experienced some form of harassment from patients or relatives. Photo: Getty Images

Nurses attend a briefing at a Covid-19 vaccination centre in Tokyo in 2021. Nurses have shared online the abuse they encounter at the hands of patients. Photo: AFP

Former nurses say Japan’s healthcare industry has for too long turned a blind eye to the abuse happening in the country’s hospitals. Photo: Shutterstock

UK court grants bail to comedian Russell Brand amid rape, assault charges

Russell Brand arrives at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday. He currently lives in Florida but is obliged to attend all future court appearances. If he does not, he will face prison. Photo: dpa

Russell Brand leaves Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London. He faces one count of rape, one of indecent assault, one of oral rape and two of sexual assault. Photo: Reuters

10 on trial in Paris over 2016 gunpoint robbery of Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian is expected to attend the trial of 10 people accused of robbing her at gunpoint at a Paris hotel in 2016. Photo: TNS

The luxury residence where Kim Kardashian was robbed in 2016. Photo: dpa

Defendant Aomar Ait Khedache. Photo: EPA-EFE

Defendant Marc Boyer. Photo: EPA-EFE

Defendant Yunice Abbas. Photo: EPA-EFE 

Virginia Giuffre, Prince Andrew’s accuser in Epstein sex trafficking scandal, dies at 41

Virginia Giuffre, one of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent accusers, has died aged 41. Photo: EPA-EFE

Virginia Giuffre, with a photo of herself as a teenager. Photo: TNS

Jeffrey Epstein in a photograph taken for a sex offender registry in 2017. He took his own life in 2019 before he could stand trial. Photo: Handout via Reuters

News

World

United States & Canada

The American hip-hop mogul is facing racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking charges


The American hip-hop mogul is facing racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking charges.
