Court surprise before opening statements
In a surprise switch-up, the judge overseeing Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial changed Friday's plans.
On May 9, the judge and both legal teams agreed to delay the final jury selection until Monday, May 12. They had planned to finalize the group of 12 jurors and six alternates by the end of the week but worried some jurors selected could get "cold feet" over the weekend.
Come Monday, entertainment reporter Patrick Ryan will return to the courthouse bright and early as they begin an hour early to accommodate both the selection process and opening statements. As Paste BN's entertainment team prepares for opening statements, we are zeroing in on a new development in the groundwork for Combs' legal defense.
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Diddy's legal team takes aim at ex-girlfriend Cassie
In court Friday, Combs' defense team revealed plans to paint his relationship with ex-girlfriend Casandra "Cassie" Ventura Fine as violent on both sides.
Combs' attorneys insisted they wanted to be able to cross-examine "Victim-1," prosecutors' star witness who is widely believed to be Cassie, about her alleged "propensity for violence." Their line of questioning, they said, would center on "other instances where she has been violent," in an attempt to illustrate her character and nature for "getting into physical altercations with other people."
Lawyers for Combs, who has pleaded not guilty to all counts, are seeking to shift the narrative that the music producer was abusive toward his ex-girlfriend, who is nearly two decades his junior and was signed to his Bad Boy Records label.
Diddy's team claims 'mutual violence' in Cassie relationship
Rather than deny any violence in the relationship, Combs’ lawyers said they want to show there was "mutual violence in their relationship" and "hitting on both sides," in an attempt to disprove the prosecution’s argument that she was "coerced." Lead defense attorney Marc Agnifilo has previously painted Cassie and Combs' nearly decade-long relationship as having "a certain level of toxicity and drug use" — but no sex trafficking.
Contrary to this, Cassie's since-settled bombshell 2023 lawsuit alleged rape, trafficking and years of physical abuse took place during their time together.
Read on for more of what we've learned about Combs' developing case this week.
Anna Kaufman contributed to this newsletter. Thank you for subscribing to this newsletter. You can follow Diddy on Trial reporter at @reporterkimi on Instagram and reach her at kimi.robinson@usatoday.com.