<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Sean "Diddy" Combs </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/diddy-update-sean-combs-found-not-guilty-on-most-serious-charges-in-sex-trafficking-trial/05f4fcdf-86cf-4d76-91d1-3090cb7da44c" rel="" target="_blank" title="was denied bail after the jury in his federal sex trafficking trial returned its verdict"><span>was denied bail after the jury in his federal sex trafficking trial returned its verdict</span></a><span>, convicting him on two lesser charges of transportation to engage in prostitution but clearing the hip-hop mogul of the most serious charges.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The verdict is, to some extent, a win for Combs, who will avoid the worst case scenario: if he had been convicted of the more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy or sex trafficking, Combs could have faced up to life in prison. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Instead, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years – though could serve a shorter sentence.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/new-two-dollar-coin-to-commemorate-torres-strait-islander-flag/b7e064d6-dbbd-45fe-b353-b38a2bb1272c" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>New $2 coin to commemorate Torres Strait Islander flag</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's a bit of a paradox, because here we have Sean Combs, who has just been convicted of two federal felonies," CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"And for all practical purposes, he has won. He has defeated the Southern District of New York."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prosecutors accused Combs of leading a criminal enterprise made up of some of his closest employees, alleging they used threats, violence, forced labor, bribery and other crimes to force Casandra "Cassie" Ventura and another woman, "Jane," to engage in drug-fueled sex acts with male escorts called "Freak Offs" or "hotel nights."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/sean-diddy-combs-trial-verdict-takeaways-from-result/5b4dfc1d-89d2-4bf1-b33a-423a8292e0c8" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Combs pleaded not guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation for prostitution. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His lawyers argued the sex acts were consensual and merely preferences, while trying to undermine the hip-hop mogul's accusers by contending they were trying to gain a monetary benefit from Combs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Here are takeaways from the jury's verdict.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/microsoft-tech-giant-lays-off-4-per-cent-of-global-workforce-impacting-thousands-of-jobs/89fa0663-9b6a-405e-a3c8-308bb9d34d87" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Microsoft lays off 4 per cent of global workforce</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Combs can claim some vindication</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Combs and his defence team surely hoped he would be acquitted on all counts. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the verdict is something of a boon for a star defendant who has seen his reputation diminish in the face of repeated accusations of wrongdoing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His acquittals on racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking are striking when looked at within the context of the defendant's fall from grace: two years ago, Ventura filed a lawsuit claiming Combs had raped and physically and emotionally abused her. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Combs agreed to settle the lawsuit a day later; his attorney said it was "in no way an admission of wrongdoing."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ventura's lawsuit was only the beginning: more accusers came forward with allegations against Combs, and in March 2024, heavily armed federal agents searched the producer's homes in Los Angeles and Florida.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/california-fireworks-warehouse-explosion-seven-missing/0b432f55-9413-448c-973c-781607fc0f45" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Seven missing after fireworks warehouse explodes in US</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two months later, CNN published hotel surveillance video captured eight years earlier showing Combs physically assaulting Ventura in an elevator lobby at a Los Angeles hotel – footage included as part of the prosecution's case for sex trafficking as to Ventura.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Now, while the verdict is mixed, Combs can claim some vindication on being cleared of the most serious charges.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Regardless of what anyone thinks of Sean Combs … the simple fact is, as of right now, in the eyes of the law, he has not been convicted of a crime of violence," CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He has not been convicted of the far more serious, life-eligible crimes that he was charged with."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/fire-ant-nest-found-destroyed-tweed-heads-nsw-calls-for-action/902112b0-4b60-48a4-868f-1fce6b0244b4" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>'National emergency': Another fire ant nest found in NSW</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Prosecutors' RICO case comes up short</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The verdict shows prosecutors failed to prove racketeering conspiracy; and while the jury's reasoning is not known, experts told CNN prior to deliberations that prosecutors' greatest challenge would be securing a conviction on this charge.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That jurors found Combs not guilty shows they were unconvinced, either of the existence of a so-called "enterprise" – a key piece of any racketeering case – or that he and others committed the underlying crimes that would support a conviction.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The charge comes from the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act, or RICO, which was passed by Congress in 1970 to prosecute organised crime. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Racketeering is not a single, specific crime, but a framework for prosecuting many different crimes; in a RICO case, these are called "predicate acts".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In Combs' case, prosecutors specifically argued the defendant and members of his inner circle had engaged in crimes involving kidnapping, arson, forced labor, bribery and sex trafficking. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>To convict, jurors would have needed to find Combs and at least one other person committed at least two predicate acts within a ten-year window.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The use of RICO in Combs' case, while not entirely novel, was unusual in that he was charged alone. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jurors did not hear direct testimony from many of the people who would have been members of the alleged enterprise – namely his closest employees, like his chief of staff or some of his security guards. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And legal analysts had wondered whether the evidence presented at trial had clearly linked Combs' alleged criminal acts to an enterprise.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In their closing argument, the government offered jurors a roadmap, outlining the charge, the elements needed to prove it and the parts of their case that would support a conviction. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Still, the argument did not persuade jurors.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Mixed verdicts on charges tied to 'Freak Offs' and 'hotel nights'</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Combs' acquittal on sex trafficking charges is a big blow to the prosecutors for the Southern District of New York – and to his accusers, Ventura and a woman who testified under the pseudonym "Jane," each of whom spent days testifying, recounting years of abuse they said they suffered from Combs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While prosecutors accused Combs of sex trafficking as a predicate act under the umbrella of racketeering conspiracy, they also charged him with two separate counts of sex trafficking, one each for Ventura and Jane.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>To prove sex trafficking, prosecutors needed to prove Combs compelled the women to participate in commercial sex acts through force, fraud or coercion. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And jurors were presented with myriad examples of alleged physical violence and financial control.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Regarding Ventura, prosecutors contended physical force was illustrated in one instance by the InterContinental Hotel surveillance footage showing Combs assault Ventura in 2016 – first published by CNN.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Testimony by both women suggested some level of financial or professional control; Ventura signed to Combs' record label at just 19, and prosecutors argued he controlled her career. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jane, meanwhile, testified she and Combs entered into a "love contract" where he agreed to pay her US$10,000 rent ($15,227), but that he threatened to cut her off financially if she stopped participating in "hotel nights."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Combs' attorneys had acknowledged physical abuse, but argued throughout the trial that domestic violence did not amount to sex trafficking. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prosecutors also told the jury they weren't suggesting every "Freak Off" and "hotel night" were instances of sex trafficking. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Both Ventura and Jane testified they were willing to try the sexual encounters in the beginning of their relationships with Combs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The jury's verdict suggests prosecutors did not prove the elements needed to convict – like the force, fraud and coercion.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"My heart in this moment is going out to Cassie," said Dream Hampton, the executive producer of </span><em><span>Surviving R Kelly</span></em><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I can't imagine what she's feeling.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm afraid that with Puff walking from the more serious charges that he's – not only him, the whole entire discourse – I just wonder what we're going to learn from this."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Combs was convicted, however, on two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution, each of which pertained to Ventura or Jane and the men Combs paid to have sex with them. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Those charges were more straightforward than the other, and prosecutors merely needed to prove that people crossed state lines to engage in prostitution.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Both women testified to having "Freak Offs" or "hotel nights" in a variety of locales, and prosecutors presented documents to bolster that testimony, including flight records, American Express charges and hotel invoices for Combs' former girlfriends and the men.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"What was clearer throughout this trial was acts of prostitution that were supported by airplane records, payments and so on – information that would just be hard to deny," Williams said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There were sex acts, no one disputes that, and they were paid for. And there's a paper trail linking the defendant to them. That was far more straightforward for the prosecution to prove compared to some of the other things."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prior to trial, Combs' defence unsuccessfully lobbied for the transportation to engage in prostitution charges, which stem from the Mann Act, to be dismissed, citing the statute's "racist origins".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Attorneys for Combs have previously accused the government of racism, allegations the government denied.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Doug Wigdor, Ventura's attorney, acknowledged Wednesday's verdict was "not the exact outcome we wanted' in an interview with CNN.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Cassie prompted this investigation…and now Sean Combs stands before the court as a convicted felon of two federal crimes. He faces significant incarceration," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Combs' legal troubles are far from over</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While the verdict marks the beginning of the end of one legal chapter for Combs, he still faces legal trouble.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Most immediately, he'll face sentencing for the prostitution charges for which he was convicted Wednesday. Each carries up to 10 years, but CNN legal analysts indicated it's possible he serves less.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Certainly very few people are ever sentenced to the top of the statutory maximum," Williams said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"So we should get the 10 year or 20 year figure out of our heads. But he will go to jail for some time."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Judge Arun Subramanian said in court Wednesday he denied Combs' bail when it wasn't mandatory before the trial and "sees no reason to reach the opposite conclusion now."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The judge quoted the defence at different instances when Combs' lawyers acknowledged his violence toward his former girlfriends.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"At trial, the defence conceded defendant's violence in personal relationships saying 'it happened' in relation to Cassie Ventura and Jane," Subramanian said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Subramanian said there was also violence and illegal conduct after the searches on Combs' homes, when he was aware he was under investigation. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This highlights a disregard for the rule of law and a propensity of violence," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prosecutor Maurene Comey said the judge is correct in his decision to keep Combs in detention, saying the music mogul is "an extremely violent man with an extraordinarily dangerous temper who has shown no remorse and no regret for his multiple victims".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Subramanian had asked the defence attorneys and prosecutors to submit letters on their positions about the possibility of releasing Combs ahead of the bail hearing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Mr Combs has been given his life by this jury," defence attorney Marc Agnifilo said in court earlier on Wednesday, as he argued for the judge to allow his client to return home.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prosecutors in their letter to the judge said Combs faces a minimum range of 51 to 63 months in prison, according to their preliminary calculation, but it may be higher at sentencing. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The possibility of a substantial sentence such as this is a significant factor in assessing the risk of flight," the letter says.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Earlier, an attorney for central witness Ventura had requested the court keep Combs detained until he is sentenced on the transportation to engage in prostitution charges.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Ms Ventura believes that Mr Combs is likely to pose a danger to the victims who testified in this case, including herself, as well as to the community," Ventura's attorney Wigdor wrote in a letter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At the bail hearing, Agnifilo said the jury has acquitted Combs of the most serious charges and that Combs has been a model prisoner since he was detained and has done everything his lawyers asked of him.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He came here, he faced the court, he's been decent with the court each and every day, and he just deserves the chance," Agnifilo said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Teny Geragos, another one of Combs' attorneys, made comments outside the New York courthouse, thanking the jury for "putting such great care into this case."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I also have been saying this since the beginning of this case: Sean Combs has not sexually assaulted anybody. I've been saying this for months," Geragos said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We've said it with each lawsuit that came out and today that was proven true."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The attorney added: "He has not sexually assaulted anybody, certainly hasn't sex trafficked anybody and the jury found that today."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Combs still faces a raft of civil lawsuits – nearly 70 have been filed so far, with several as recent as last week – accusing Combs of further wrongdoing, including sexual assault. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Combs has denied all the allegations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Notably, civil claims carry a lower burden of proof. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In the criminal trial, jurors needed to find Combs guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But in a civil case, the proof only needs to meet what's called a "preponderance of the evidence," or more likely than not.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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