Sean “Diddy” Combs’ defense team began closing arguments Friday as the seventh week of the rapper’s sex trafficking and racketeering trial comes to a close.
Marc Agnifilo, Diddy’s attorney, accused the prosecution of bringing a “fake trial” against the “Last Night” rapper as the government went after his “private sex life.”
Diddy’s defense claimed none of the prosecution witnesses testified to engaging in racketeering. Agnifilo pointed out the disgraced music mogul’s former employees all described working for him as hard, but also said it was like “going to Harvard Business School.”
“That’s the fake trial I’m talking about,” Agnifilo told the jurors, claiming the prosecution failed to prove the government’s theory of racketeering.
DIDDY BLOWS KISS TO FAMILY AFTER PROSECUTION PROMISES TO PUT A STOP TO HIS ALLEGED CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR
Agnifilo then brought up the raids on Diddy’s homes, pointing out the seizure of Astroglide and baby oil. There was nothing about the rapper’s businesses to make this a criminal case, the defense attorney stated.
“Where is the crime scene? The crime scene is your private sex life,” Agnifilo said.
According to Diddy’s defense, this case was about money. He noted the investigation into Diddy came about after his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, sued the rapper for $30 million. Agnifilo claimed Cassie wouldn’t have sued if Diddy didn’t have millions. “We’re here because of money,” he stated to the jury.
Agnifilo claimed what happened between Diddy and Cassie was domestic violence, not sex trafficking. “Owning the domestic violence, we own it,” he said in court. “That’s not charged.” According to the defense attorney, Diddy did not do the things he’s charged with. The rapper didn’t commit racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, Agnifilo argued. He also claimed the disgraced music mogul didn’t obstruct justice or commit bribery.
Ahead of closing arguments, Diddy walked into the courtroom wearing a beige sweater. He gave a small wave, did a thumbs ups and made a heart motion with his hands. The rapper then hugged Agnifilo, before sitting down.
There was a short delay in the start of court due to a transportation issue with one juror. While waiting for the jury, Diddy made a prayer gesture with his hands. A few of his lawyers made the gesture back to him.
WATCH: PROSECUTORS ACCUSE DIDDY OF RUNNING A ‘CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE’
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For their closing arguments, Diddy’s defense team allegedly planned to invoke the Iran conflict during closing arguments, according to TMZ. The government seemingly objected to this strategy after court Tuesday.
“Given that the attorneys who will be giving summations won’t be here tomorrow, I wanted to put something on the record that I hope will not be necessary, but my hope is that we don’t have to object during defense summation,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey said. “I really don’t want to do that. So I just wanted to put on the record that we think it would be objectionable and crossing a line for any summation to bring up politics or current events or the propriety of this prosecution and the use of government resources. I would hope that Mr. Agnifilo would not cross over those lines, but I just wanted to say that if he did, I would object in the middle of his summation and ask the Court to instruct the jury to disregard any comments like that. So I just wanted to state that in advance of summations and the hope that it’s not necessary.”
The prosecution noted this issue had been brought up in one of the government’s motions in limine.
“I believe at that time there was an agreement by the defense not to engage in any of that type of argument,” Judge Arun Subramanian said. “But, Mr. Agnifilo, anything to worry about here?”
“Nothing to worry about, Judge,” Agnifilo responded.
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WATCH: DIDDY TRIAL JURORS HAVE ‘EXTREMELY DIFFICULT’ DECISION AHEAD, EXPERT SAYS
Prosecutors gave closing arguments Thursday.
The government explained how the trial testimony proved each charge against Diddy – two counts of sex trafficking, racketeering and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution – over the course of roughly four hours.
The government emphasized in their argument that Diddy ran the alleged criminal enterprise with full control. The prosecution pointed out that the jury heard testimony, saw texts, viewed bank records and heard audio showing the “Last Night” rapper committing crime after crime for decades. According to the prosecution, the government showed Diddy didn’t take no for an answer. Up until today, Diddy was able to get away with crime because of money and power, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Slavik said. “That stops now.”
