Juror in Diddy’s trial was kicked off for revealing where they lived, which made the defense worried about the diversity of the jury

In Diddy’s case, a jury was kicked off because they didn’t give their residency information, which made the defense worry about a lack of diversity.

Sean “Diddy” Combs is on trial for sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. On Monday, a federal judge fired a juror because he gave contradictory answers about where he lived, which suggested he may have had a hidden purpose or wanted to stay on the jury for personal reasons.

Judge Arun Subramanian made the choice even though Combs’ lawyers were against it. They said that adding a white juror instead of the black one would make the jury less diverse racially. The judge didn’t care about the worry, saying, “The court should not, indeed cannot, let race affect what happens.” This time, the answer is easy to see. Juror No. 6 is dismissed.

The decision was made after a weekend of thought. Subramanian had first said late Friday that he was going to fire the juror because he wasn’t sure whether he lived in New York or New Jersey most of the time. The judge said that they found “clear inconsistencies” in what the juror said during jury selection and when they were questioned in chambers afterward.

“All of these things together made me very suspicious about the juror’s honesty and whether he gave false answers to get on and stay on the jury,” Subramanian said. He didn’t ask the jury any more questions because he thought it would lead to “another set of shifting answers” and wouldn’t help his case.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges of setting up a crime and sex trafficking business. He was arrested in September at a hotel in New York. His bail has been rejected several times, and he is still being held at a federal facility in Brooklyn.

In a letter sent over the weekend, the defense also accused the prosecutors of wrongdoing, saying that they were working together “to try to destroy one of the most successful Black men in American history.” They said that the case was too focused on Combs’ personal life. The accusation was thrown out by Judge Subramanian, who said, “There has been no evidence of prosecutorial misconduct brought to the court’s attention.” “None.” He turned down the defense’s third request for a new hearing.

During Monday’s hearings, prosecutors called a summary witness to read out loud text messages that the jury had not yet heard. Some of these texts were between Combs and a woman named “Jane” in court, who dated him from 2021 until he was arrested.

In the texts, Jane said she didn’t like how they lived together and called their sexual encounters “hotel nights” and “wild king nights.” She also told Combs’s head of staff, Kristina Khorram, that she was upset because he had threatened to release sexy videos of her.

Following a case against Combs by his ex-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie Ventura, Jane told Combs through text message on November 28, 2023, that she felt used and embarrassed during their relationship, which she said had hurt her career.

In another message to Khorram, Jane said Combs had threatened her with the sex tapes he was said to have kept on two phones, saying he was going to send them to the father of her child. Combs had a “evil-ass psychotic bipolar” episode during which he threatened her and said he would call the police on her. This made her have to engage Khorram in these kinds of things more often than usual. Jane said she was high on drugs when the tapes were made.

The trial has been going on for six weeks now, and the government is likely to rest its case later this week.