A federal judge delayed the jury selection in Sean Combs‘ trial until Monday, May 12. The decision was made after a key witness refused to testify and went missing.
US District Judge Arun Subramanian granted the defense’s request to postpone the final selection of jurors until Monday, May 12, because some jurors are having “second thoughts” about sitting through the 2-month trial.
On Monday, both legal teams will be permitted to narrow a pool of 45 prospective jurors down to 12 jurors and six alternates.
Combs, 55, was arrested in September and charged with racketeering, kidnapping, arson, bribery and sex trafficking. If convicted on all counts, he could spend 20 years in federal prison.
Combs reportedly rejected an offer to serve 5 years in prison in exchange for a guilty plea.
The trial was thrown into chaos when a key witness went missing.
Lead prosecutor Maurene Comey told Judge Subramanian that the female witness refused to testify, and now she’s missing. Comey said prosecutors are having trouble locating or contacting “Victim 3.”
The woman previously alleged she was abused by Combs and “coerced” into performing sex acts.
The rap mogul’s attorneys admitted he was abusive to ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, but the attorneys said they both abused each other, including “hitting”.
“We are absolutely going to admit to domestic violence,” lead attorney Marc Agnifilo said. “But at what point does it become coercive?”
Agnigilo described Cassie as a “strong” woman with “a nature of violence,” and “capable of starting physical confrontations.” The defense said Cassie is “violent” and “aggressive”.
On Thursday, Judge Subramanian dismissed a potential juror who works at the Brooklyn federal jail where Combs is being housed.
The judge chastised both legal teams for not properly vetting the potential jurors.
TMZ recently published exclusive video of the judge arriving to federal court alone, while wearing headphones and a backpack.
#Diddy judge #ArunSubramanian looked more like a student heading into a building to attend class today — instead of his day job, which is presiding over the disgraced music mogul's federal sex trafficking trial. ?
Full story HERE: https://t.co/TZV2ObIjQZ pic.twitter.com/h38vuyN0Vy
— TMZ (@TMZ) May 7, 2025
