Sean “Diddy” Combs retained criminal defense attorney Teny Geragos as part of his legal team after his arrest in September.
The criminal defense attorney, known just as much for her last name as she is for her work in the courtroom, first earned fans last year with social media clips about her rapper client.
Teny also gained recognition for her opening remarks during Diddy’s federal trial, where she argued that the case was about “voluntary adult choices,” which the government was attempting to skew into a narrative to fit a sex trafficking charge.
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Teny, the daughter of criminal defense lawyer Mark Geragos, graduated from Loyola Law School Los Angeles in 2016. Her father is known for representing several high-profile clients, including Michael Jackson, Scott Peterson, Jussie Smollett, Colin Kaepernick and, most recently, the Menendez brothers in their pursuit of resentencing.
She then worked with Brafman & Associates for eight years before becoming a founding partner of Agnifilo Intrater.
She serves on the board of directors of the New York Criminal Bar Association and is certified to practice law in New York and California.
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Shortly after Diddy was arrested in New York after a human trafficking investigation, Teny claimed the media was pushing the wrong narrative about the “Last Night” rapper.
“There’s no minors, there’s no celebrity sex tapes. The civil lawsuits here are not driving the allegations that we’re defending against, but it is driving the vitriol against him in the media,” Teny said on an episode of “2 Angry Men.”
“It’s incredible here what I’m witnessing,” she said of the public narrative about Diddy. “A lot of allegations that have no basis in reality whatsoever.”
During opening statements of Diddy’s trial, which began on May 5, Teny asked the jury to consider the federal charges, not the choices of an at-times violent man.
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“Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case,” Teny told the court. “This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money. This case is about voluntary adult choices made by capable adults and consensual relationships. This case is about those real-life relationships, and the government is trying to turn those relationships into a racketeering case, a prostitution case and a sex trafficking case. It will not work.”
Teny told the jury that they would hear the “basics” through the lens of various witnesses and evidence. Most importantly, though, jurors would get the opportunity to “finally” hear the facts about the case.
“I say that because this case is not about what you’ve heard on the news, read in the news or have seen on social media for the past year and a half,” Teny said. “This case is not about what civil attorneys looking for a payday are trying to make my client out to be. There has been a tremendous amount of noise around this case for the past year, and it is time to cancel that noise and hear and see the evidence that will be presented in this courtroom.”
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She noted that Diddy “has a bad temper” and at times gets “so angry or so jealous that he is out of control,” but she emphasized that the “Victory” rapper was not charged with “being mean.”
“He is not charged with being a jerk. He’s charged with running a racketeering enterprise,” Teny said. “And though there was violence that you are going to hear about, you already have, that violence is not part of any RICO. That violence is not connected to sex trafficking and that violence is not prostitution.”
During a recent episode of “2 Angry Men,” Harvey Levin and Mark Geragos sat down with fellow high-profile lawyer Joe Tacopina to talk about the case. Tacopina has served as a personal attorney for President Donald Trump and most recently won a big court victory while representing rapper A$AP Rocky, who was found not guilty of criminal assault charges.
“Your daughter, by the way, your daughter is a terrific lawyer – Teny – I’m very impressed,” Tacopina told the men. “There’s people who are or children of great lawyers who become lawyers, and you know it’s not the same.”
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“I’m sure we’re reading each other’s minds right now,” Mark said. “That’s why I take that as high praise for her, so I appreciate that.”
“She is, she’s something else. I’m very impressed with her,” Tacopina continued. “That opening was phenomenal. Opening summations and cross is my daily bread, it’s what I love, it’s what I studied, and what I really perfected it, and that was as good as I’ve seen.”
To wrap the episode, Mark revealed that his all-star daughter was pregnant with his second grandchild. “Four months yesterday, I think,” Mark said.
Levin joked, “The New York jury is like, ‘Is everybody pregnant in this case?” Levin was likely referring to the prosecution’s “star witness,” Diddy’s ex, Cassie Ventura, who recently gave birth to her child with husband Alex Fine. Ventura testified against the rapper last month.
In a federal indictment unsealed on Sept. 17, Combs was charged with racketeering conspiracy (RICO); sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. If found guilty, he faces a minimum of 15 years behind bars or a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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He has maintained his innocence throughout the trial, in which witnesses have testified to alleged rape, sexual assault, severe physical abuse, forced labor and drug trafficking. The trial is expected to wrap by July 4.
