Renato Stabile
Appearances
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
What is even stranger is the reports we're getting that the prosecution team is having difficulty getting in touch with victim three's lawyer. That is also extremely unusual. I cannot imagine what is going on. But look, I don't think it sinks the government's case.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
They have several other victims that they're going to put on, including one who is not one of the actual allegations in the indictment. So they have plenty of evidence and evidence. I don't know that not having victim three there makes such a difference. And look, this happens all the time in trials.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
The prosecution often reevaluates their case in the middle of trial and witnesses that they thought they were going to call, they just don't call them. They're under no obligation to call any particular witness. They just have to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
Yeah, next week's going to be very interesting. They're going to do the strikes early Monday morning and then go right into the openings and we'll see our first witness.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
Yeah, you know, look, it's New York City. So you get a wide range of people. I'm not that surprised these things happen, especially in these really large, high profile jury selections where you're bringing in hundreds of people. You're whittling it down to people really, first and foremost, that can actually sit for 10 weeks. So that's probably the most difficult hurdle to get over.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
And then once you get past that, people who say that they can be fair and impartial, but I think the judge needs to get it down to 45 jurors before they start exercising strikes. There's some math behind that that I won't bore you with, but it's based on the number of jurors plus the number of alternates plus the number of strikes that each party is entitled to.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
And so that's how you get to the 45. You actually only need 40, but the judge is being conservative and he's going to have a few more.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
Yeah. And a case that's this high profile. I mean, look, I think it would be strange if you found jurors that hadn't heard of the case or hadn't heard of Diddy. I'd be a lot more concerned about those people because I have to think, where do you live? You know, you're not part of the world if you don't know about this case and if you don't know about Diddy.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
So they couldn't apply a standard where if you know about the case or if you know about Diddy, you can't be a juror. The question is, can you be fair and impartial? Can you listen to the evidence? Can you give Diddy, you know, the presumption of innocence? Can you look at him as he sits there now? And a lot of people can't. But remember, he is entitled to that. He is presumed innocent.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
And until the prosecution proves their case beyond a reasonable doubt, he is an innocent man. And you have to find jurors that are going to say, yeah, I look at him that way and I'm going to respect his constitutional rights.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
Yeah. So look, obviously, besides Diddy, you have this star studded list of potential witnesses. We've talked about this before. One of the concerns that I think both sides have are these stealth jurors, right? People that will just say anything to get onto the jury and won't be honest with you. And especially when they see that some of these celebrities might be showing up.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
look, this is exciting. This might be the most exciting thing that will happen in a lot of jurors lives all year, maybe in 10 years. So, you know, the fact that you have all of those celebrities, it adds to whether or not you think people are trying to game the system just to get onto the jury.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
He's obviously a very charismatic person. He has been a celebrity for a very long time. He knows how to ingratiate himself with people. I don't know that it's necessarily a put on. I think that's just how he is. And he's just maybe being himself. Look, he's not obviously supposed to be talking to jurors or engaging with them, but he definitely wants to build rapport.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
He wants them to see him as another human being who is in a tough situation. And I think it's fine to make eye contact or to smile to jurors. You can't do it too much. But remember, you also don't want to be laughing too much. And this is something that I tell clients. When you are in that courtroom, and the jury walks in, it's like the curtain goes up on stage. All eyes are on you.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
So you have to take it very seriously. And it's OK if something funny happens in court. He's human. We're all human. But I wouldn't want to see him when something not funny is going on in court for him to be joking around with his lawyers. And that, I think, would really do him a disservice if the jurors detect that he's not taking this seriously in any way.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
But if you have those light moments, I think that's fine. And I think, look, he should rely on the charisma that has served him well for many, many years.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
I think the biggest factor is really the 10 weeks, that that's the thing that people are saying, I would like to be on this jury. I think it would be interesting to be on this jury, but for two weeks, not for 10 weeks. So I think that's why you're seeing a lot of people trying to get out of it.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
You know, one thing that was interesting, I saw you had some footage of Mark Agnifola walking into court this morning, and he had that huge white binder. Right. I assume, based on my experience, that in that huge white binder,
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
is a ton of information on all of these jurors that was probably his jury binder and so what the defense has been doing and probably the prosecution too has been researching these jurors finding out everything they can and over the weekend they're even going to continue to do that and it also gives them an opportunity to sit down with Diddy because listen it's ultimately his life
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
And he has to be comfortable with the jury that's going to sit in judgment of him. And he should have a say in who they're going to strike on Monday.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
I think the ideal juror for Diddy is somebody who is going to hold the prosecution witnesses to a very high and exacting standard. who is going to be looking for discrepancies in their stories, who is going to be saying, if you didn't want to go along with these things, why did you attend these events? Why did you continue to attend these events? Why didn't you walk out the door?
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
I know some of the testimony is going to be that think people were drugged or things were put in their drinks. But I think also some of it will be voluntary drug use, voluntary alcohol use. And I'm looking for jurors who are going to look at these alleged victims and they're going to say, look. I'm not buying that you were coerced into this.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
You were, you know, as far as I know, the people, I know there are civil suits, but the people testifying in this trial are adults and they were adults when these things happened. So I want really exacting thinkers, people that see the world as black and white and who are going to hold them to that standard.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
The biggest secret in the entertainment industry that really wasn't a secret at all.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
Yeah, I saw that. And it's always difficult for a defense attorney to have to cross examine a victim of sexual assault. You know, you don't want to bully that person. You don't want to bully any witness. So I think they have to go very gently with her. And I think the pregnancy, the timing of it is, I guess, for the defense, from their perspective, unfortunate.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
And the last thing the defense wants to do, I think, is really make her cry on the witness stand or look like they're really bullying her.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
But to your point, if they're going to say that she's this tough person and that she was physically abusive or did things to Diddy, and I think that's going to provide some of the context from the defense perspective of what was going on in that video in the hotel. Now, you know, does it excuse it? Of course not. Does it explain it? Well, maybe.
The Trial of Diddy
A Jury of His “Peers”
And so they're going to have to get into all of that. But it does change the calculus and it does change the tone you take with her being as visibly pregnant as she is. In terms of victim number three, it is very unusual. for a key government witness to go MIA on the eve of trial. I can't even begin to speculate on what is going on there.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
But in consent cases, female jurors can sometimes judge very harshly. If the defense is arguing they voluntarily went into these situations, female jurors might judge these women harshly and say, you didn't know what was going to go down in that hotel room. You didn't know what was going to happen at this party.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Or at least maybe you didn't know before you got there, but at some point you knew what was going on and I would have just gotten up and walked out. And I think that's going to be a big part of the defense. Male jurors might feel more protective of these alleged victims.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
They'll view it differently and feel like they're protecting them in returning a guilty verdict, whereas female jurors might have set a much higher bar in terms of what they're willing to believe.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
For sure, they did it already because the trial is going to start. I mean, they're going to start jury selection in just a few weeks. And I think they're filing, both sides are filing pre-trial motions today. So watch the docket because the pre-trial motions that they file are going to give you a
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
One thing that is always a consideration in a very high profile case like this is that if you bring mock jurors in to test this case, you know, you get them to sign confidentiality agreements and of course you pay them, you try and control it as tightly as you can. But you do have to be concerned about leaks sometimes, not in the usual, in the ultra high profile.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
And I would consider this as high profile as it gets.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Yeah, that seems like it's a bit of an overreach to charge this as a racketeering case. And I'm sure that they got feedback from some jurors that, you know, that seemed to be a little bit too aggressive because racketeering is usually reserved for the mafia, gangs or whatever, stuff like that, real criminal organizations.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
I don't think anybody considers his record label a criminal organization per se. Um, So I think that could be an overreach. But look, I think the problem in this case is that you might be able to successfully defend against one or two of the alleged victims. But I think the volume of evidence here from what I've seen in the indictment and what I expect is going to be really tough.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
to say that everybody consented, nobody was forced or everybody's lying and everybody's just trying to make a buck here and everybody has civil lawsuits and they're just trying to get back at him because he maybe promised them help in their careers and he didn't follow through. To say that over and over and over again is going to be challenging.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Yeah, I mean, everybody, you know, I'm sure a lot of people have seen that. And I think he's already apologized for that. So they're really going to own that. There's really no excuse for that. But they're going to say, you know, that one episode doesn't make him a racketeer. And they're going to ask this in voir dire for sure in jury selection.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
They're going to say, look, even if you saw that video, do you still think you can evaluate the evidence fairly? Or did seeing that video give you such bad feelings about him that you think you're just going to be thinking about that video the whole time and you're not going to be able to put it out of your mind and you're already so turned off to him?
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
that you're not going to be able to sit and judge him fairly. And some people are going to say, yeah, look, there are some people that want no part of this, right? I talked about stealth jurors, but I think a lot of people are going to be running for the exits because some people don't really want to hear about all this. And if they saw that video, they don't want to see more videos like this.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Like people just don't need this in their lives. So you're going to have a lot of people who are going to want to get out. And so they'll say, yeah, I saw that video. You know, after I saw that video, I never could look at him the same way again. So they'll definitely be leaving. And also keep in mind, this trial is probably going to go on for a long time.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
I don't know what the estimated length is, but certainly several weeks. People have lives. People have, you know, jobs if they get paid hourly. if they have child care issues, if they have adult care issues, you know, whatever it is. So I think that's why, not I think, I know that's why the court is summoning so many jurors, because it expects to lose a lot of people to what we call hardship.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
So what's going to happen is the last week in April, they're going to have jurors come to the courthouse and fill out written questionnaire. That process is going to take two or three days for enough jurors to fill out those questionnaires. So I expect the questionnaire will be probably... 25 to 30 pages of questions. And it's going to ask, first and foremost, it's going to ask about hardship.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
So it's going to ask things like, first, do you understand English? Because not everybody does. Will you be able to follow the evidence in this trial? Are there any appointments that you have coming up that you can't move? Those people will be excused. Then it's going to ask about financial hardships.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
If you are an hourly worker or you're self-employed and sitting there for three weeks is going to make you not be able to pay your rent, the court isn't going to force you to sit there if those are your personal circumstances or if you have child care issues or if you have a sick relative at home. The court's not going to make those people stay there.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
The second batch of questions are going to be questions about following the law. There'll probably be a statement, a criminal defendant has a constitutional right not to testify in a criminal trial. Do you have any issues with that? Would you have a problem finding somebody not guilty if they didn't testify on their own behalf? Do you agree that a defendant doesn't have to prove anything?
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
That the prosecution has to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt and the defense could literally sit there and do nothing? And if the government doesn't prove their case, you have to find him not guilty. Are you able to do that? So there'll be a lot of those types of legal questions. Then there'll be a set of questions about, have you ever been a victim?
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Have you ever been accused of anything? Have you ever been a witness? What experience do you have with the legal system, with the criminal justice system? Then there'll be a set of questions about relationships or feelings about the prosecution or defense. Do you have a law enforcement background? Does anybody in your family have a law enforcement background?
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Is anybody in your family a criminal defense attorney? Do you know any of these people? And all of the lawyers' names and the prosecutors and the judge, everybody's name will be there. Do you know any of these people? Would you be able to evaluate the testimony of law enforcement witnesses the same as anybody else? Or would you tend to believe law enforcement witnesses more than anybody else?
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
All of those questions are going to be in there. Then there's going to be a section about knowledge about the case. Now, this is where I expect almost everyone has heard about the case and has heard about him. But that's not disqualifying. The question is, OK, even if you've heard about the case and even if you've heard about him, can you keep an open mind? Can you be fair and impartial?
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Have you formed any opinions about the case? Have you posted about the case? I think that'll be asked. in the questionnaire directly. So that'll be really interesting to see how people answer that. And then after all of that, those are sort of the qualifying questions that the lawyers will get to look at and decide, is there anything we see that automatically disqualifies this juror?
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
And so they'll come up with a list. The prosecution and the defense will meet and the defense will say, this is our list of people we think should go for cause. The prosecution will give their list of people who should go for cause. And wherever they agree, those people are going to get dismissed.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
But in addition to that, the prosecution may have a list of people that the defense doesn't agree with, and the defense will have a list of people that the prosecution doesn't agree with. And then they will have to go back to court, and each side will make arguments about why a particular juror should go or stay.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
The judge may get rid of some of those people, some of the prosecution strikes, some of the defense strikes, but probably not all of them. And so they'll be marked for follow-up. Then there'll be a process where the jurors who survive the cause challenges made by the parties are brought back to court. And then they will be asked a few different things.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Number one, they will be asked certain follow-up questions based on their answers in the questionnaires. But then there'll be actual voir dire where they're asked just background questions. Very often you do this live because the parties have to hear people speak. We all form opinions about people just based on how they speak, their affect. Do they sound intelligent? Do they sound reasonable?
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Do they sound like the kind of person I could go out and get a coffee with? All of those things. And also, you know, the defendant, Diddy, has a right to hear people speak and look them in the eye and his life is on the line. And he has the right to be there and look at the people who are going to sit in judgment of him and make decisions for himself about how he feels about
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
about these people or somebody giving him a really bad vibe? What is he not like the way somebody kind of stared him down? And so there has to be a process when these people are going to be brought back in and they'll be asked questions like, you know, what do you do for work? What's your education? What neighborhood do you live in? Where did you grow up? What are the people in your household do?
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Like, what is your spouse or significant other do? If your children are adults, what do they do? Have you ever served on a jury before? They might ask them, what TV shows do you watch? Where do you get your news? Which will be very important, I think, especially for the defense, because they'll be very in tune to which news outlets have been the most negative and ditty about this case.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Let's just say somebody mentions a news outlet and the defense says, wow, they've really bashed him relentlessly. Then they know they have to watch out because everything that that person has ingested is about the case has been super negative. So where you get your news and what news you watch is going to be incredibly important.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
What websites you go to will be incredibly important, where you get your social media. And then they might just ask some things like, do you belong to any clubs or organizations? What are your hobbies? What do you like to do in your spare time?
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Questions like that, just so the parties can get kind of a better understanding about these folks so they can intelligently exercise their peremptory strikes. And then the very final part of the process is you exercise your strikes. Defense gets 10, prosecution gets six. You get one for every two alternates. So you're going to see 12 jurors.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
And then I don't know how many alternates there are going to be, but let's just say there were only two alternates. Each side would get a strike.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
I think so. I mean, I think things, you know, the other thing about federal court that's very different from state court, in state court, the lawyers... get to stand up and talk to the jurors and ask questions directly with very little input or interference from the judge. In federal court, it is totally different. The lawyers don't speak. And the judge does all of the questioning.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
And occasionally the judge will allow the lawyers to ask a follow-up question where they'll go to sidebar and they'll ask a follow-up question. And I predict that there will be a lot of sidebars in this case where the jurors will be brought into a back room and questioned one by one. That's for a couple of reasons. One, You'll get more honest answers because the courtroom is going to be packed.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
That's also unusual in your typical criminal case. There's nobody there. There's nobody there watching. But in this case, it's going to be packed. They're going to see the press outside when they show up for jury. Everybody's going to be hyper aware that everything they say is being highly scrutinized.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
So I think to make people feel more comfortable, I expect that the judge will take them up to the sidebar or take them one by one in the back. And at that point, the judge may allow some follow-up questions directly from the lawyers or the lawyer says to the judge, can you ask this question? And then the judge decides whether or not he wants to ask the question.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Strictly because it's a high profile case. So first of all, you almost never get a written questionnaire in a federal criminal case, almost never. But because this is so high profile and because they're bringing in so many jurors, in my experience in cases like this, you typically do see a written questionnaire. But this whole process is unusual. This is not the typical process.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
I think the defense is going to. presumably try and say that a lot of these witnesses who are coming in here saying that they've been victimized are really just looking for money.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
So although you might normally not want the jury to think about the civil cases, I think in this case, the defense is going to want them to think about it because they're going to take the position that this is all a shakedown.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Look, Diddy is a celebrity, so he is accustomed to being in the public eye. He's accustomed to being in a room and being the center of attention. You know, that's just his life. So I think he's going to be perfectly comfortable in that position. I think the reminders I would give him is, you know, maintain your focus. The jurors are staring at you from the second they walk into the room.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
So any little thing you do could have an impact on them. If they don't think you're taking this case seriously, why should they take it seriously? And I know he is going to take it seriously. But, you know, in such a stressful situation that he's going to be in, you know, all kinds of things sort of take over. But he's accustomed to being stared at, let's say.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Yeah. So, I mean, look, I, you know, back in my earlier career, when I was a practicing criminal defense lawyer, one of the highest profile cases were was representing Irv Gotti in the Murder, Inc. case, along with his brother, Chris. And they were alleged to be engaged in money laundering for Kenneth McGriff, of supreme fame from Queens. And, you know, they were fully acquitted.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
But, you know, there was a lot of media scrutiny there. And all the things I'm saying here were things that I said to them about, you know, maintaining their composure. And the jury is watching them. In fact, the jury was watching them. And one thing there, you know, they had a lot of support in the hip hop community. So, you know, I know Russell Simmons came and showed his support and
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Lior Cohen and, of course, Ja Rule was there and Ashanti was there. I think Jay-Z might have even shown up one day. Fat Joe was there. So they had a lot of support because they were innocent and people knew they were innocent. So they came to support them. But the jurors saw that, right? The jurors saw, well, how bad could these guys be? All of these big celebrities are sticking with them.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
I don't know if that's happening here. I think everybody has sort of scattered. I don't think he's going to have any friends in the courtroom. I assume his family is going to be there. And I do think it's important. I really think it's very important for the jurors to see his family there and to see his kids there. So I do expect them to show up and show their support.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
I don't know if they'll be there every day, but I think they'll be there a lot. They see who's showing up and they see who's supporting him. So it's critical to have that happen.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
You know, I mean, I really think this is all this case really all comes down to jury selection. I mean, I think so many cases do. And just trying to be able to find people who are going to look critically at the evidence and who are going to accept a defense that, you know, these things were consensual because nobody's going to like what they hear in this case, I assume.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
But can they step back and say, OK, I don't have to like this. But in America, if the government doesn't prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, I have to set him free. I have to find him not guilty.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
The most important part of this case. The case is won or lost in jury selection.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Yeah. So look, I've had, obviously I have no involvement in this case, but typically in a ultra high profile trial like this, I expect that maybe they've already done some jury testing. In other words, they've done some focus groups, they've done some survey work to try and figure out the profile of who's going to make a good juror, but really more importantly, who's going to make a bad juror.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
because it's not jury selection, it's jury deselection. You can't pick anyone in jury selection, you can only get rid of. And you get rid of people in two ways. Cause challenges, people that have a bias, people who say they can't be fair, they get struck for cause, you have an unlimited number of those. But then you also have what's called peremptory challenges.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
which means you can strike people just because you don't like the way they look or you don't like the way they answered a question, even if they say they can be fair and impartial. Now, there are limits to that. You can't strike people based on race. You can't strike people based on gender. Of course, you can't do things like that. But if you just don't like the way somebody's dressed,
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
You can strike them for that reason. That's a valid reason. So I think, I predict that the trial team has done some research to figure out and go in with a game plan so they know really who they're striking. Don't fall in love with any jurors because you have no control.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Yeah, I mean, that's a super tough question. Usually we let the research dictate what that is. But just based on my experience, I think in a case like this, my understanding is the defense is going to be consent, right? So they're not going to say, the defense isn't going to say, and Diddy isn't going to say, that these things didn't happen, that these freak-offs didn't happen.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
But the defense is going to be these were consenting adults. Everybody knew what they were getting into. And so... I'm going to want jurors who are going to be analytical. I want jurors who are going to hold people personally responsible, hold adults personally responsible for things that they do and see the world as black and white.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
So I want people who are going to be like architects or engineers or maybe people in finance, people who are very black and white thinkers. who are going to not agree that people can be, you know, manipulated or psychologically influenced are going to say, no, look, you went there, you knew what was going on.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
You walked into a hotel room, presumably, and there were lights and there were cameras and there was whatever was on the table. And what did you think was happening? And people who are going to say at that point, you could have turned around if you didn't want to be there, walk out the door. So those are the people I want, the people who I don't want.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Are the people who are going to be more empathetic, more understanding of psychological control and how that works and how people can kind of walk into a situation and not really be sure they want to be there or not be there, but then there's psychological pressure put on them. Now, I know some of the allegations are the people were drugged also. So, you know, that might be a different story.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
But I think the black and white thinkers are going to say, well, you know, you took the drugs. If they weren't, if it wasn't snuck into a drink, I mean, we'll see what the evidence is. But that's how I think I would go about this. But again, you're guided by what the research tells you.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
So look, this case and most high profile cases like this, you are going to get so much more information about these people than you typically do. So just to break it down for you, in a typical federal criminal case, jury selection is one day. Everything you're going to learn, you learn in one day, maybe two days. This case is very, very different.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
And most high profile cases like this are very different because everybody knows Diddy. Most of the people will have heard about this case. And so the judge is giving them two weeks to pick this jury. And there's going to be a lengthy written questionnaire given out. We haven't seen the questionnaire because I looked at the docket they have until April 11th to submit a joint questionnaire.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
So we're going to see that just a few days from now. And then we'll be able to see what the questions are going to be. As a jury consultant, I love a written questionnaire. You don't get it all the time. You do get it in these high profile cases, but I love it because people are more honest.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
So you're going to get, I think, a lot of honest answers in the written questionnaire, and you're going to have at least a week to go over those. And what's going to be happening in that week is that the lawyers, probably on both sides, are going to be investigating the potential jurors.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
You have to. It's really, I mean, my view is it's malpractice if you don't do it. Because you have to know what these folks are posting on social media. Maybe they've already posted about this case. Maybe they've posted about other high profile criminal cases and expressed their opinions.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
It's everything that you can do legally. So, I mean, nobody's nobody's going to set up a dummy profile and friend people on Facebook or Instagram or anything like that. Nobody does that. But whatever is out there publicly, you're going to look at.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
I mean, there are all kinds of tools that you can use to scrape people's current social media, to get their prior social media, stuff that used to be on the internet that now may have been taken down. You want to look at their work history, their LinkedIn. You want to look to see if they have any financial issues. So you'll see tax liens, licenses. You can see voter registration.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
I don't know how prominently that will feature in a case like this. Things will break down over party lines, you know, Democrat, Republican, ultra liberal, ultra conservative. But those are things that you're looking for. You know, have they donated to political candidates? That's all publicly available. Have they donated to PACs? All publicly available.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
So those are all of the things that you're going to be looking for to put together. And it's incredible because they're going to be hundreds of jurors here, but you're going to put together a mini dossier on every single person.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
And you're going to rank them. Do you want this person? Do you not want this person? And of course, there are some people who are going to write in their questionnaire, he's guilty. For sure, that's going to happen. And they'll be struck for cause.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
We call them stealth jurors. It is very, very tricky to figure out who is giving you honest answers and who is giving you answers that they think will get them onto the jury. Because it's not just that it's high profile and Diddy's gonna be in the room and people want proximity to celebrities. And by the way, interestingly, that's gonna be part of the defense, right?
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Part of the defense is that people went along with these things You can agree or disagree, but they're going to say people went along with these things because they wanted proximity to him. They wanted proximity to maybe other celebrities. Maybe they were getting paid. People do like to be around celebrities and it doesn't end when you get into a courtroom.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
So for sure, I think there are people who are going to try and give the right answers to get onto the jury. A, because it's just really interesting. But B, you know, maybe people want to write a book. Maybe people want to go on TV afterwards and talk about their experiences.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Of course, of course, you get sworn in and you're told by the judge that you have to give honest answers and you actually stand up and take an oath. as a juror in court to give honest answers. And so, you know, I'll give you an example. This happened in the Glenn Maxwell case in one of the jurors forgot that he had been the victim of some sort of sexual assault.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
And the question was asked on the questionnaire and he answered no or left it blank. And, you know, there was a whole big issue after that case about, you know, did he lie or did he forget? And the judge held a hearing. And the judge made a credibility finding that he forgot and so decided that he didn't do anything deceptive.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
But that's another reason why you have to look at people's social media to make sure that, you know, they're not coming into court and telling you, yeah, I can I can totally be fair and impartial to Mr. Combs. And yet, you know, you'll see on their social media, they're posting articles or saying this guy is so guilty or something like that.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
yeah nobody wants it i mean the defense certainly doesn't want it but the prosecutors don't want it either they don't want people lying to get on the jury even if even if it helps them even if there's going to be a conviction they don't need that because they don't want to do it all over again so it's really in everybody's interest that everybody gets a fair opportunity to ask whatever questions they want to ask
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
look over the questionnaires, do whatever background research they're going to do so that this doesn't come up after the fact and really upend for the prosecution side, upend a conviction. And look, the defense, they want him to get acquitted and they want him to get a fair shot here. So nobody wants it.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
I don't know that his celebrity is going to help him a lot here. I do think celebrity helps in some cases, but not necessarily here. You know, it's funny. He's kind of a he's a Gen X artist, right? I don't know how popular or known he is with the younger generation. So you could see this thing break out across generational lines.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
If I were picking this jury, I would probably skew younger in terms of the demographic I'm looking for. And not because of familiarity or unfamiliarity with Diddy, but because I think younger people might be more receptive to the fact that people consensually went along with a lot of these things.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
because they wanted to be famous or because he promised them something or he would help them with their career. Now, you don't have to agree with that. And you could say that's manipulative, but the defense is going to say, OK, but that's not a crime. Right. You don't have to like what he did. You don't have to condone it. You don't have to condone these freak offs or whatever was going on.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
But nobody was forced. Right. They have to show force, coercion, duress, all of those things. And the defense is going to be people did this willingly. And so maybe younger jurors are going to be more receptive that people will do like almost anything to be close to a celebrity or to become famous themselves.
The Trial of Diddy
Diddy’s Life Is On The Line
Yeah, gender is always an interesting issue in any sort of sexual assault case where the defense is consent. Jurors are going to have to accept that the alleged victims did these things voluntarily and of their own free will. And depending on the circumstances, what I found is that sometimes It's counterintuitive. You think female jurors would side with female victims.