← Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
From Star Wars Binges to Cassie Tapes: Diddy's Jury Drama Unfolds
00:11:07
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Ashley Banfield
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Drop Dead Serious. I'm Ashley Banfield, and it is day three of jury selection in Diddy's trial, and Sean Puffy Combs showed up wearing the exact same outfit he was wearing on day one. And on day two. Yes, this clothing magnet, hip hop recording artist worth a billion dollars, wore the same crewneck sweater and gray slacks three days in a row, which must be a record for him, given he was once the toast of the town at the Met Gala just down the street in Manhattan. And maybe, maybe Sean and his lawyers are onto something, because dressing down when you're facing federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges isn't such a bad idea. And reminder, one of his lawyers is married to Luigi Mangione's lawyer, so I am guessing they're shopping in the same place. But let's go back to day three. A jury pool is now official, officially in place, at least the ones who made it through round two. Round one was the questionnaire, and plenty of people got booted just from their answers. Round two was a series of questions from the judge about being fair and impartial no matter what your background and your experiences. But a lot of people were shown the door there as well. Now, round three, the lawyers get to ask the questions next. It's called voir dire. And the judge was able to clear the magic number for voir dire, 45. That means 45 qualified prospective jurors are going to head through to the next round. Voir dire. It also means that we are just one step away from having a seated panel and opening statements, which are locked in for Monday. And yes, Diddy got his people in in the room today. A few supporters showed up, including his cousin, who earlier this week was told twice to wear his free puff sweatshirt inside out. Can't wear insignia. You can't be supportive of one side or the other in court. So he switched his sweatshirt inside out. And reports from inside the courtroom say that Diddy glanced back at his cousin from defense table, like, several times and that the two of them seem to be sharing signals or looks about prospective jurors, almost like they were signaling yay or nay. The cousin was definitely taking notes Anyway, while in court. And before we get into who made the cut and who didn't, there was a bit of behind the scenes drama involving somebody very familiar with the courtroom celebrity, attorney Mark Garagos. Mark is not officially on the Diddy defense team, but he has very close ties to that team, for heaven's sake. His daughter, Tenney Garagos is one of Diddy's lawyers. Mark Garagos was pulled aside by Judge Aaron Subramenian after making some eyebrow raising remarks on a podcast. Mark does a podcast with TMZ's Harvey Levin. It's called Two Angry Men. And on the podcast, Garagos referred to the all female prosecution team as, quote, a six pack of white women. He also implied that race may be an undercurrent in this case, even if it wasn't a central part of the defense. Well, remember yesterday when I talked about the motion from the prosecution asking the judge for a gag order for Mark Garagos? According to transcripts, the judge had a private word with Garagos in chambers before jury selection resumed and said, quote, that is something you shouldn't. That no one should be saying as an officer of the court and a member of the bar, referring to the prosecution in this case as a six pack of white women is outrageous, end quote. Well, that happened. Now back to the main event, voir dire. Remember that 2016 video of Cassie Ventura, Diddy's girlfriend, being punched and kicked and beat, beaten in a hotel hallway? That video was a star attraction today. It just kept coming up. The last person added to the 45 member pool, a woman, she told the court that she had seen the video and thought it was, quote, shocking, quote, scary and, quote, violent. But she also said that she could be fair. A middle school teacher gave a more complicated response. She said the video made her believe that Diddy was guilty of domestic violence. But when pressed on what she meant, she said, I think in that instance, what I saw on television, that was a bit of bad judgment in that moment. I don't know what led to that. I don't know if there were drugs involved, if he was under the influence, end quote. As a side note, Diddy is not charged with domestic violence in this federal case, but the prosecutors say they sure do plan to play that video in court. And when the judge said the video would be shown during trial, that middle school teacher said, I would want to hear about the whole story. What happened? What were the factors that came into play? End quote. Neither the prosecution nor the defense objected and she stayed in the jury pool. But not everybody got the benefit of the doubt. A woman who had also seen the Cassie beating video said that she and her co workers at a Bronx school were speculating about Diddy's guilt and she was dismissed. There was also a guy who showed up, clearly not operating at full capacity. He sighed a lot and he didn't complete his juror questionnaire and admitted that he'd been binging andor the new Star wars series the night before. He told the court, quote, I was tired, I was binging the new Star wars andor it just came out. The judge laughed and asked him, quote, will you be able to concentrate or will you be too busy binging andor. And the guy replied, quote, like I said, I was binging. I'm just being lazy. The prosecutors raised concerns about his discipline and his focus. And the judge called him, quote, sleep deprived, but ultimately said none of his answers disqualified him. So he stays in for now. Another potential juror faced questions about their social media activity. After the defense pointed to a meme that they may have interacted with, the juror shrugged it off as, quote, doom scrolling and quote, mindlessly swiping. And when asked if they had seen anything that would affect their opinion of Combs, that person said no. He also went to the same high school and as Diddy just 30 years later. And he was approved for the pool. One ban was removed after telling the court that he knew Judge Subramanian personally. Turns out they had served as co counsel together on multiple cases and had known each other for 10 years. When asked to describe the judge, the man said, quote, he is fair, he is gregarious, and he's brilliant. Prosecutors were concerned that he'd have an outsized influence on other jurors and that guy, he was dismissed. Another juror who stayed in the pool admitted to watching the CNN video of Sean Combs assaulting Cassie and said that she, quote, felt he would be guilty of domestic violence, end quote. But she also emphasized that she would base her decision on what actually happened, not assumptions. She added that she wanted to hear, quote, the whole story. At one point, she remarked that she thinks people often jump on the bandwagon to say something bad happened to them, which may be a reference to the many civil suits that Sean Combs has faced. Still, nobody moved to strike her. We also have an update on the prospective juror who works at hbo, the same HBO behind the Fall of Diddy documentary. Earlier this week, this juror told the court that she didn't work on the film. But today the defense said she did work on promotional photos for the documentary and even showed one to the judge. So she's out. And one woman who had interned at the Brooklyn DA's Domestic Violence Bureau, strangely enough, she's staying in again for now. And by the way, jurors were also asked about two very posh Manhattan spots, the Essex House and the Peninsula Hotel. Why? Because that's where some of the alleged abuse went down. By the end of the day, the court had its 45 people. And next, prosecutors and Diddy's defense team will have their chances to strike any juror that they want. It's called the peremptory strike. Ten of them for the defense and six of them for the prosecution. And they're kind of secret. You don't have to say why you're striking the person. You just get to strike. And we're going to have to wait until Friday morning for that to happen now because prosecutors were concerned that if jurors were chosen today, some might try to wiggle out before Monday's opening statements, which to that I say probably a pretty good call. So the clock pauses for now, and that is where we are. The pool is in place, the courtroom is quiet. And Monday, May 12, barring any hiccups, it all begins. Opening statements should fill this courtroom. The prosecution says they want to call two brief witnesses also on Monday, and that their third witness is expected to take up the remainder of the week. Any guesses on who that might be? Cassie? Dawn? Richard? We're gonna have to wait to find out soon enough. And by the way, Monday, it is gonna be a zoo in lower Manhattan. Even though no cameras are allowed in this courtroom, I guess the way we'll see this trial play out is through sketch artists, which to me is like 16th century, right? For heaven's sake, could. Could we please just get with the program? It's 2025. And you know what? It's just better for everyone when the justice system is transparent. Put the cameras in court. The court sketch artists, they've had their day. And by the way, podcasters. Podcasters will also be bringing us the details, including yours truly. So if you're loving our live coverage so far on the Diddy case, please let me know in the reviews. Share. Oh, hey, even if you don't, if you hate it, leave me a review. I appreciate what you have to say, and I tweak things according to what you say. Please also share this episode with a friend. That really helps out. Leave a comment in the YouTube comment area and please don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any of the new episodes, especially the bonus ones that I just drop on a dime. Thank you so much for listening, everyone. I'm Ashley Banfield, and remember, the truth isn't just serious, it's drop dead serious. It.