A judge has delayed the jury selection for the trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Combs’ defense team asked Judge Arun Subramanian to postpone the final step in the jury selection until Monday. That step was to cut the pool from 45, now 43 after two potential jurors were dismissed, to 12 jurors and six alternates, The Associated Press and USA Today reported.
The prosecution argued against the request, saying that if several jurors decide they don’t want to participate in the case, which could last for two months, it will slow down the judicial process.
One potential juror sent an email to the court asking to be released because of “issues of personal well-being,” The New York Times reported.
Potential jurors were asked if they could decide the case using facts only, even after seeing videos that may be disturbing to them.
They will be tasked to determine if Combs is, as the Times wrote, “a ‘swinger’ with unorthodox sexual proclivities, or a predator who used his power to abuse victims in drug-dazed encounters.”
Combs has denied all of the allegations against him. He declined to take a plea deal, USA Today reported.
The prosecutors can remove six possible jurors from the pool while the defense can remove 10 before the jury is finalized.
The jurors will be anonymous and not sequestered.
Combs faces racketeering, kidnapping, arson, bribery and sex trafficking charges. If found guilty on all of the charges, he faces at least 15 years behind bars, but could be jailed for life, the AP reported.
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