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Lauren LaRosa
This is an I heart podcast. Let's get to it. Time to do it. I'm the homegirl that knows a little bit about everything and every bond. You know, if you don't lie about that, right? Lauren came in hot. Hey, y' all, it's Lauren LaRosa. This is the latest with Lauren LaRosa. This is your daily dig on all things pop culture, entertainment, news, exclusives, and all of the conversations that shake the room. Baby, now when we are talking about shaking the room. Today was stressful, and I am not on trial, okay? I am not on a federal trial. I am not, like, I'm just not. I'm not the center of attention here. At the end of this, I will be able to go to my family. I will be able to continue my life. I'll be able to go to work. I am not or I'm not going to prison. But I promise you guys, today, when that juror note came in saying that there was a verdict reach, we all felt like, oh, my God, like, everybody. Now, here is what happened. At 4:05pm there was a note that was received from the jurors to the court. Now, the way that this day is set up, when you're on this verdict watch, all of us are kind of just like sitting around and waiting. If you're in the courthouse, you're literally doing nothing. Diddy is not in the main court for majority of the sitting around and waiting unless there is a note that comes up or something that needs to be addressed. He is in a holding cell. His family is there, but his family is in and out of court. Lunchroom, leaving, coming back, different things because you're literally just sitting. We all are just sitting. So when this note came, I'm watching via the online because there are court reporters who are in the actual court that are able to tweet out at real. In real time. So today and yesterday, and I told myself all of this week, my goal is I just want to be in the vicinity of the court. So I've literally just been sitting outside of court in my car watching what's happening, but watching other news, figuring out, you know, what I'm going to talk about on the just doing other things as we're waiting. Because again, if you are not, if there's not a juror note, if there is not a conversation or issue brought up, nothing is happening. Everyone's just sitting. So we're all just sitting around. At this point, Diddy's kids are not even in the courtroom. And I think because A lot of us expected for the verdict to be reached tomorrow. It was a possibility that it could be today. We were prepared for it to be today, but I think a lot of the media there thought tomorrow, potentially today. But I think we all thought tomorrow was going to be that day. The slam dunk day was tomorrow, right? So we, Everybody is. Is going insane, right? We, we find out that there's this jury note at 4 or 5pm So I hop out my car, it's pouring down, raining too, outside of the court. We, we get back in the courthouse while we're on our way in court. And when I say we, I was with Armand Wiggins. Me and him are on our way back in court. We were literally sitting in the car just waiting to see what was going to happen. Court normally is adjourned around 4 o' clock. I remember it was like 3:45, I'm like, y' all, ain't no verdict coming today. We thought it could be today, but ain't no verdict coming today. It's probably gonna be early tomorrow morning. 405, that note hits. We run to the court. We are entering through the main court door, normally going through a side door. We enter into the main court door. In front of us is Baby Love's mom. And everybody like Baby Love's mom, the media in front of us, the media behind us, everybody's like, what's happening? What's happening? Because once you enter the court doors, you're supposed to turn your phone off. I kept my phone on. So I'm checking out the online court reporter's X account because I want to know what's happening. 4:05pm, there's a note that's brought in by the jury, right? And then 4:19pm, the prosecutor hands a piece of paper to Diddy's lead attorney, Mark Agnifilio. When he gets that paper, he. He passes it on. He then passes it on to two of his other attorneys, including Nicole Westmoreland. And then Diddy is brought into the court from a holding cell. So when this happens, originally, I'm thinking, okay, this is another court note. I literally said out loud because we're like, When I first got this alert that this happened, we're still sitting in the car and I'm like, this is. I said, oh, they just. The jury, the jury just has another question. This is like their fourth court note. They were just arguing earlier when they got into court after figuring out the drug distribution conversation about Cassie's testimony or post on Instagram. And, you know, the Domestic violence post and all these things, right? So I'm thinking this is a normal court note. And then they bring Diddy in from the holding cell. So then after they bring Diddy in from the holding cell, he's standing there with his hands in his pocket. His attorneys begin speaking to him. It's so dramatic, right? But in real time, it's like, oh, something going on. This is not just a regular. We got a question about a testimony. What did y' all mean by this? His attorneys huddle around him. He then sits down. All attorneys are huddled around him. At this point, all eight of his attorneys are around him. His hands are on his lap. He then starts rubbing his eyes. Now, granted, y' all know, like, if you're in the overflow room, you're not going to be able to see this. And mind you, while all this is happening, we're still going through security trying to get into. Because everybody, even his kids were working their way back into court at this time. Because nobody expected this verdict to come today. We thought it would be early tomorrow morning. So his kids. We're not in line with his kids, but they're trying to figure out getting his kids back there. We have one of his kids, mothers in line with us. Insecurity. We. We're all living off of my tweets at this point. I'm literally talking to Babylove's mom, and she's freaking out. She's asking what's happening? What's happening? So I'm telling her what's happening. I'm telling everybody what's happening. We're all trying to figure out what this means, because what they said was, we've reached a verdict on count 2, 3, 4, and 5. We are unable to reach a verdict on count 1, as we have jurors with unpersuadable opinions on both sides. Now, I want to break down the counts because I think again, from the beginning, people have been very confused about what Diddy is actually on trial for. Count one a racketeering, which is at rico. He's charged with two counts of sex trafficking involving his ex girlfriends, Cassie and then Jane Doe. He's charged with three counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Now, remember, Diddy pled not guilty, and he turned down a plea. So normally when you turn down a plea and you take something to trial, you were saying that whatever those mandatory minimums are, right, whatever weight these charges carry, at minimum, you are willing to go to bat for that. Some of these charges that Diddy is facing, he could be in Jail for the rest of his life. So at the moment that the verdict comes in and there's one decision on count two, three, four, and five. But count one, which is the rico, they cannot figure out what they decide. Oh, Diddy, is it? Oh, we. I think we all felt the. Oh, my God. Like. Like a literal gasp went out through the court from what a friend was telling me. Mind y' all, we still trying to get through security. Security arguing us down. Cause everybody's bum rushing trying to get through security. But of course, it's a heavy feeling, right? Because he doesn't know at this point. It's. The verdict is a mystery to him at this point. He knows that they've reached something, a decision. He knows that there's one count, that they are very strongly divided when it comes to making a decision on count one. Now, let me tell y' all. So Diddy faces up the life in prison if the jury finds him guilty of the racketeering conspiracy. So that Rico, he faces up to 15 years if the jury finds him guilty on sex trafficking. And he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years if the jury finds him guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution. So he can either be convicted on all charges, he could be found guilty on some of the charges, or he could be acquitted on all the charges. I do not believe that he's going to be acquitted on all the charges. I think that at least, at minimum, that transportation to engage in prostitution is something that will stick. I think that the sex trafficking between the girlfriends, I think that it will stick, but I think that they're going to go very lightly on that one, because that's still kind of like muggy gray area of, like, was it or was it not based on the evidence and the testimonies that we heard, the RICO is where I think a lot of us knew the government was going to have a hard time proving their case. Now, remember a few days ago, a lot of us were confused. A lot of people were confused because the government decided to back up off of a few theories. A lot of the attempted theories under this rico, including the arson and other things. Attempted arson, Right. The attempt, not the actual crime that was committed, but the attempt. They backed away from these theories and said, look, we want to focus on what we know that we're strong on. And the reason why they did that is because they wanted to avoid a situation like this. It did not work. Because, again, once you have those conversations out in front of these people, the people cannot hear. We are not in Men in Black. You can't just blink and it don't work out. By the time we got into the overflow room and I could actually visually see him, it was very obviously that he was stuck. Like, he was stuck, very stuck just there. Like, literally just there. Didn't turn around and look at his kids. Not one time. When we got in, Babylove's mom had actually got into. She was sitting in the second row. She had said while she was waiting, you could see. Like, I could literally see her as I was talking to her as we're going through security. She's breathing heavy. She literally said, yo, if I faint, catch me, because I can't describe the feeling. But it was such a. Oh, wow. Like, we're finally at the point where we're going to know if this man's life is over, if the rest of his life will be spent behind bars, right? And then you see, as we're. So now I'm in the overflow room, and we're seeing. So eventually, his daughters got back there, his sons got back there. You know, his mom is sitting right there as well, too. So the family is all there at this point. So then they start going through the conversations. The judge is like, look, the. The. The jurors just gave us this letter. We got to figure out how we address it, right? So the government is like, look, I think we should do a modified Allen charge. And Allen charge refers to jury instructions that you give a jury when they're hung. I looked this up because we were having so much conversation about it in the courtroom. But y' all know me. I like to do my Googles. I like to figure things out for myself. So I went on a Cornell Law School's website. I've been using them a lot throughout this case as they bring up different landmark cases and just different things that they're using to make their own decisions, both on the defensive side and the government side, right? So according to Cornell Law School's website, this is the legal information Institute, where they give you information on various laws and charges and things. The Allen charge refers to jury instructions that are given to a hung jury urging them to agree on a verdict. Now, these Allen charges can be controversial, and a lot of states don't allow you to use them, but federal courts do allow you to use them. But the government's like, I think we should do a modified Allen charge, like, where we don't do the full Allen charge. So, like, you know, we're not putting the full pressure on the people, but we should let Them know, like, look, y' all gotta make a decision, and y' all need to make one soon. Dave's team is like, no. This jury has been remarkable already. They sat through all of the evidence. They sat through all the deliberation. They. They've been going through these things for weeks and hours and days, and they were able to come up with a unanimous decision on four of the five counts. Why would we now pressure them? They are more than capable of figuring this out. They just need more time. And it was a great argument that was made by Diddy's team because, right again, none of us did his team. No one knows what their decision is either way. We just know that they've come to a decision on some of the counts. Right? But you want to give them as much time as possible, uninfluenced. You want it. You don't want them to feel the pressure of anything. And then this came back up again, too, because when you're Talking about pressure, 4th of July is on Friday. At the end of the day, these are normal people with families that have been in court for eight weeks long. And I said in my last upload, people do not understand. Being in court is taxing. It wears you down. There are so much information, so much time, so much back and forth, so much detail. I cannot imagine being a juror, I would want to pull my hair out right now. And you're trying to do the best by this person whose life is on the line and, you know, all of these things. It's a lot of pressure already. So if I'm a defense attorney, I want no more additional pressure if I can get it. The judge basically came to a middle point because he told the prosecutors, which is the government. He also told Diddy's team, like, look, y' all put together what y' all think my instruction for them should be, Because Diddy's team was like, we should just leave them alone. We should just let them do their thing. And the judge is like, we can't just let them do their thing. We can't just leave them alone. Because they're literally saying, we have people who were equally unpersuadable on both sides. We need to re. Give an instruction, because obviously it went over somebody's head, or we need to give an instruction, because if this is how they feel and they're sticking to their guns, we just got to deal with that how it comes. But at least we gave them as much instruction defining instruction as we could so that they could make one decision altogether on this Last count, right? Diddy's team submits their email. The government submits their email. And the judge come back. He says to Diddy's team, he's like, you barely said anything. And Diddy's team is like, well, that's because we don't really want much said. We want them to do their own thing. We want them to just get more time. The government is suggesting the Allen charge. And then they bring up a line from Avenatti's case. Where and when they said this, I was like, oh, they. They know what they doing. They want the pressure. They want this to be done over with. They want the pressure. If the pressure gonna make you fold, baby, the government is like, give it to me. So the government is like, well, we think that in addition to. Because they're. The government is like, we think that in addition to our email that we sent you and the judge say, look, what you guys are saying is not too far off. Y' all are kind of basically both saying the same thing. So I'm mutual in the middle and put together a charge to read to them. So then the government is that, okay. The government stands up and ejects objects. And the government is like, look, we object to this because we think that there should be something more defining. And there's nothing defining here because Diddy's team is like, no, just tell them, like, look, you guys have been great. Take some more time. We're trying to keep it as cute as possible over here because we don't want them to feel pressured. We don't want any. Anything to be blamed on pressure. But we do have to define this a bit more. So the government is saying, let's use this line from Abenatti's case, which is a case that they brought up when they sent over their proposal of what and how they think the. The jury should be instructed. So the line was, there's no reason to believe that if this case were to be tried again that another jury would be any more intelligent, more impartial, or more competent to decide than you are. They wanted to drive the point home that, listen, if y' all can't come to a decision on this count, the case could be tried again. So why don't y' all take another look at the instructions, Sit down. Figure this out so we. So that doesn't have to happen with another jury, right? Diddy's team is like, nope, nope, that's too much. That's. That's pressure. That is too much. At this point, they reiterate if they've already reached their verdict on four accounts, they know what they're doing. They just need more time and give them the more time. So then they have a conversation about what more time looks like. Because technically, court was supposed to be closed on Thursday, which is the third for the holiday of July 4th. The judge is like, if we need the time, we can figure out the logistics so that we can be here on the third. Should we tell the jury that when I bring them in now, or should we wait? Like, what do you think we should do? So the government is, you know, they're saying their piece. Diddy's team is like, no, we shouldn't tell them now, because, again, that adds to the pressure because they're going to be kind of scrambling to figure it out because they don't want to be a kind of like a logistical burden. They don't want the court to have to open up on their behalf and do all these things. Let's not say anything to them about court not being open right now. And I get it. The, you know, the court wants to be equally, like, fair and transparent to the jury, but I think in being equally fair and transparent to our client, we shouldn't say anything. Let them tell us what they want to do. So today, bring them back in. You can give them this additional instruction about, you know, the. What the instructions are and them, you know, leaning in on their own common sense and all the things that we've done already. Right. And then allow them to figure out if they're going to keep deliberating today or will we come back tomorrow? And then at the end of the day tomorrow, let's see where they fall. And then you give them the decision of, like, hey, okay, so we will probably have to come back on here on the third. What do y' all want to do? Because at that point, there's no added pressure. Court said, okay. The court agreed that they would kind of already start figuring out logistics for the third just in case, and that they will wait until tomorrow to have the conversation with the jury. Y' all, the stress is on, baby. Okay? The pressure is on. I think that we will get a verdict tomorrow. But again, this rico, this is the RICO that has them. I don't know, man. I don't know. Y' all let me know. What do you guys think? Drop your predictions in the comments if you're listening. Take it outside to the tweets in the streets. Every other page are good. How do you think they ruled on the counts? The four counts that they've come to a decision on count 2, 3, 4, 4, and 5. What do y' all think? I appreciate y' all for tuning in. This is the Latest with Lauren LaRosa. I am Lauren LaRosa. At the end of the day, there's always a lot to talk about, and y' all could be anywhere with anybody talking about it, but you guys choose to be right here with me every single time. And for that, I appreciate you guys all one million plus of y' all, because the low riders, y' all are so heavy. We so deep right now. I will see you guys in my next episode. This is an I heart podcast.