Judge quickly rejects mistrial request at Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial

A national justice has instantly rejected a defence petition for a mistrial astatine the enactment trafficking proceedings of euphony mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs

NEW YORK -- A national justice instantly rejected a defence petition for a mistrial connected Wednesday astatine the enactment trafficking proceedings of Sean “Diddy” Combs, aft his attorneys said prosecutors tried to connote to a assemblage that the music mogul interfered with the probe into rapper Kid Cudi's firebombed Porsche successful 2012.

Although specified mistrial requests are communal during lengthy national trials involving hundreds of pieces of grounds and dozens of witnesses, this was the archetypal petition astatine Combs’ trial, which is successful its 3rd week of grounds successful Manhattan. Combs has been progressive successful his defense, regularly penning notes to his lawyers, and they person consulted with him arsenic they questioned witnesses.

Judge Arun Subramanian instructed the assemblage to disregard grounds astir the demolition of fingerprint cards that occurred months aft Cudi's car was acceptable ablaze. Weeks earlier that firebombing, Combs became enraged erstwhile helium learned that Cudi was dating Cassie, the vocalist who had a astir 11-year narration with Combs from 2007 to 2018.

The Molotov cocktail utilized to pain Cudi’s car successful his Hollywood Hills driveway was fashioned retired of a 40-ounce Old English 800 malt liquor vessel and a decorator handkerchief, according to Lance Jimenez, an arson researcher for the Los Angeles Fire Department, and photographs shown successful court.

The defense’s mistrial petition came aft Jimenez testified that fingerprints taken from Cudi’s burned up Porsche 911 were destroyed successful August 2012, astir 8 months aft the fire. Jimenez said idiosyncratic successful the Los Angeles Police Department who was not progressive successful the probe ordered the fingerprint cards destroyed. He said that was not mean protocol.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not blameworthy to charges that helium led a racketeering conspiracy for 20 years that relied connected fearfulness and unit to get what helium wanted. If convicted, helium could look 15 years to beingness successful prison. Cassie and different witnesses person testified that she was repeatedly beaten by Combs, and she said she was often coerced to prosecute successful unwanted enactment acts.

Defense lawyer Alexandra Shapiro asked for the mistrial during a greeting interruption with the assemblage retired of the room. She told Subramanian that “prosecutorial misconduct” had occurred and said “there's nary mode to un-ring this bell.”

She said prosecutors were connected announcement during assemblage enactment that immoderate prospective jurors had to beryllium eliminated from information for the assemblage due to the fact that they believed Combs could bargain his mode retired of the racketeering conspiracy he's charged with.

“These questions were designed to play close into that,” she said.

Defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo called the prosecution’s behaviour “outrageous.”

Combs’ lawyers argued that the prosecution’s questions and Jimenez’s resulting grounds was highly prejudicial due to the fact that prosecutors were suggesting that Combs had thing to bash with the demolition of the records.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik said “a mistrial is perfectly unwarranted here.” She said the taxable of fingerprints was raised to antagonistic defence suggestions done questions posed to different witnesses that the car firebombing was poorly investigated and that the country was not canvassed for fingerprints.

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