Hayat Bearat, director of Northeastern’s Domestic Violence Institute, explains why a conviction may not be the end of Diddy’s legal trouble.
Sean “Diddy” Combs was recently acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges after an eight-week federal trial in Manhattan.
A jury did find the music mogul guilty of two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.
“He was found guilty of transporting people for prostitution—so not sex trafficking,” says Hayat Bearat, an associate clinical professor of law at Northeastern University. “It’s lesser charges and it seems they didn’t find strong enough evidence from either side regarding the other charges.”
Combs was charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He faced life in prison for the racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.
Instead, Combs could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years for the two other charges. The final sentence will be determined by a judge at a later date.
The decision comes after over two days of deliberation. On Tuesday afternoon, the jury sent a note saying they’d reached a verdict on four out of five counts, but were unable to come to an agreement about the charge of racketeering conspiracy. Both the prosecution and defense requested the jury continue deliberating.
“I think the jury is torn on the racketeering charge and need more time to deliberate as they realize the seriousness of this charge and are having difficulty reaching a unanimous decision,” Bearat said.
Regardless of the outcome of the trial, it might not be the end of the road for Combs’ legal battles. Bearat says that he could still face civil trials if any of his victims decide to sue.
The primary motive for this would be financial, she says. If Combs does not get sentenced to prison, a victim might pursue a civil case to get a restraining order against the mogul.
“The main reason (to sue) is financial, and so I think that depending on what someone might have suffered, they could go down that avenue,” says Bearat. “But, if he’s going to be incarcerated for life, it would probably be more likely for financial damages and compensation as opposed to potentially holding him liable. With him behind bars, then you’re limited.”
Combs has already been sued for sexual and physical assault by other women, including his ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura. There have been more than 70 lawsuits filed against him.
Throughout the seven-week trial, the jurors heard from 34 witnesses, including Ventura, in what Bayat says is a “lengthy” trial.
The abundance of witnesses was likely mean to help support the prosecutor’s case.
“I imagine they wanted to have as many witnesses as possible to not cast the doubt because essentially all it takes is one juror to have him not be convicted,” Bearat said.
Among the other witnesses were two women who testified under pseudonyms about the abuse they faced under Combs. Speaking out poses a lot of risk to survivors, Bearat says, hence why some of the witnesses were anonymous.
But the jury faced some challenges, specifically surrounding the other illegal activity that led to the crime. As part of the trial, prosecutors showed a hotel surveillance video of Diddy assaulting his then-girlfriend, Ventura.
Additionally, it was reported that the jury asked a question clarifying what it means to distribute controlled substances, something which also came up in the trial.
Bearat says the video and other aspects of the trial could have shifted the case.
“That could obviously impact a jury or juror to feel one way or another,” she says. “We go through the selection process to hopefully rule out anyone that might have any bias based on these charges or what they might be observing, but I think that’s probably what the conversation is looping back to.”
In the bigger picture, Bearat says it’s possible that the trial could lead to more people being charged in connection to these parties, as it’s likely others were involved in this case. Additionally, seeing the case might empower more people to come forward, leading to more charges.
“The hope is that more survivors feel empowered to share their story and what they’ve experienced,” she says. “We’ll have to see what comes out. It could be the prosecution is successful and he’s found guilty or it could be the opposite and then survivors will think ‘look how much they went through and they didn’t believe them in the end.’”
This story has been updated.