The citizens of New York who may serve on the jury in Sean Combs’ federal trial begin to answer questions. What it takes to assemble a jury in a high-profile case like this. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the focus of this episode on The Crime Scene Weekly?
Hey, it's Brad Milkey. This week on The Crime Scene Weekly, we're talking about a mom who gained national attention for faking her own kidnapping. Sherry Papini is back in the spotlight, but now she's changing her story and trying to change her custody arrangement with her kids. Listen to the latest from the case on The Crime Scene Weekly.
Chapter 2: What are the charges against Sean Combs?
A warning. This episode includes discussion of sexual violence and abuse, so please take care when listening. Jury selection has now started in the trial of music mogul Sean Diddy Combs. I walked into the Southern District of New York courthouse yesterday for the first day of jury selection. Combs is facing federal criminal charges of racketeering, conspiracy, and sex trafficking.
He's pled not guilty and denies all allegations. The timing of the start of jury selection, May 5th, coincides with another big New York City event, the Met Gala. It's something Diddy attended many times in his old life. If he had still been the old Diddy, yesterday, he probably would have been getting dressed in something glamorous and high-concept from his label, Sean John.
Instead, he was seated in a grand courtroom with high ceilings and rich wood, wearing a dark, navy crew-neck sweater over a white button-down. No tie with slacks. He wasn't cuffed or shackled. Two marshals sat behind him. He got permission from the court to wear something other than the beige jail smock he had been wearing for prior court appearances.
His hair was a mix of salt and pepper, leaning more towards salt. There are no cameras or microphones allowed in the courtroom. But if you'd been there, you'd have heard the judge open the day by saying, welcome to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
With the exception of voting, for most citizens, the honor and privilege of jury service is their participation in the democratic process. This is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and trial attorney. This episode, a jury of one's peers. Let's get to it. So I got to court at about 7.30 a.m.
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Chapter 3: How is jury selection conducted in a high-profile federal trial?
And thanks to the great producers and line waiters at ABC, I was able to do so. Because the line started at 12 a.m. that morning. The person who was waiting in line for me that I relieved at 7.30, they were second in line. And behind me stretched about another 30 or 40 people. The vibe outside was kind of anticipatory, waiting, are we gonna get in?
It's like trying to get into your favorite nightclub and you don't know where exactly the cutoff's going to be, but we're all excited to get in. Once you get into the Southern District of New York, it's first security, right? I go up to the 26th floor.
But inside the court, the way federal court operates is you have the judge all the way in the front, you have a large kind of wall that is about waist high with a swinging door that allows you to come in and out of it. And in what we call the well of the court, there are three large rows of tables.
And the government walked in as a powerful group of women, because it isn't a group of women who are representing the United States of America in this case, and they sat in the first row. Behind them, there are so many attorneys and people representing Sean Combs that they occupy two rows of tables.
The entire left side of the courtroom is left open because that's where prospective jurors eventually come in. When Sean Combs ultimately does come in, he hugged his attorneys and he looks back just ever so slightly and then kind of faces forward again. No big gestures or smiles or whatever it may be.
The goal of jury selection is to find a jury of one's peers, because that's the constitutional right that we all have. As we sat in the courtroom, about 54 or 55 people of varying demographics, whether it be race, gender, age, walked in. And they occupied not just that section that was left empty for them, but there was an overflow that actually had to sit in the jury box as well.
And at that point, the judge began the process of jury selection, welcoming the jury into the courtroom, explaining to them why they were there, that he expected the case to go on for at least eight weeks, but trying to give people the hope that this isn't going to go as far as Independence Day.
You might still be able to get your Fourth of July weekend while still being off during Memorial Day weekend, Juneteenth, and other federal holidays that are recognized. After the judge is done giving just the preliminary statements, let's call them to the jury, you can see they all have a sheet or multiple sheets of paper in their hand. That's that questionnaire.
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Chapter 4: What challenges are faced during the jury selection process?
The same questionnaire that we now have at ABC and can kind of walk through. After that, welcoming everyone, all the jurors walk out again. And then those jurors or prospective jurors move to a different room altogether, just a little down the hall until one by one, they came into the courtroom take the witness stand and are asked questions by the judge.
The judge, who is a self-proclaimed somewhat of a workhorse, and he is, he's really keeping this train moving. He is a phenomenal conductor. he created this kind of, for lack of a better term, batter's box. Because as one person is in the witness stand being asked questions by the judge, the next person who's about to come up is looking over the list of people and places. What do I mean by that?
There are a number of people and places that are going to come up in this case that the judge wants to ask whether or not you're familiar with these people in a way that you cannot sit on this jury. And so while one person's reviewing, the other person is on the stand.
Chapter 5: How does the court handle sensitive topics during jury selection?
Now, the way it works in federal court, at least at this stage, the judge is asking all the questions to see if there are what you call four cause challenges as to whether or not this person cannot be a juror. If they have the inability to understand English, if they have a medical condition where they can't sit and stay for that long, if they have childcare issues, things like that, right?
And after the judge asked those questions, the judge said, if I see an issue, I will excuse this juror and we'll move on to the next. And if there are any challenges by either side, they can speak then and talk about it.
The questionnaire has 31 questions, and one that I think is very important and also came up a number of times when asking prospective jurors what they meant in answering this question was question 10. Have you, a family member, or someone close to you been the victim of sexual assault, sexual harassment, or domestic violence?
Now the judge also said, if there is something that is particularly personal to you, we can have what's called a sidebar where everyone gets together away from all prying ears. So even us in the audience couldn't hear, and you can ask those questions. The sad part is the sheer number of women who just say yes.
And I think the saddest part for me is when they say yes, I would hope there'd be some level of shock, But it is such a common place where women say, yeah, there was a neighbor, I was flirting with him, and then he sexually assaulted me in a staircase. just matter of fact. And that's something that one of the jurors actually said. And she said, yeah, but that's just part of the culture.
It happens sometimes. It happened in 96 so many decades ago, but don't worry, your honor. I can put that aside. I understand that my situation and what's going on here are two different situations and I can be a fair juror. And that's what happened to a lot of those questions. And the judge is asking in a very polite way, I understand that you were sexually assaulted.
I understand that someone had done this horrible thing to you. Can you put all that aside?" And they say, I think, I believe I can. And they ultimately say yes. Now, could they end up being jurors on the trial? Absolutely.
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Chapter 6: What happens after the initial jury selection phase?
From those 54, 55 prospective jurors that came in, the judge is trying to whittle it down to what many people might call a magic number, where no matter what happens, 12 plus alternates will be found. After the break, what we learned about the people who might decide Sean Combs' fate.
This is the next phase in my therapeutic work.
Nicole Kidman returns for the Hulu original Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2.
Breathe out.
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She is manipulating us. Breathe in. Breathe out. Why are you resisting?
Is it too late to get a refund?
The all-new season of Nine Perfect Strangers is now streaming on Hulu and Hulu and Disney+. New episodes May 21st.
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