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Today, U.S. government prosecutors called two witnesses in an apparent attempt to add texture to their portrait of Diddy’s drug-fueled “freak offs” and his lifestyle as the head of an alleged criminal conspiracy. Here’s what you need to know:
- Andre LeMon, a Department of Homeland Security investigator who led the search of Diddy’s vast home in Los Angeles last year, said agents found 900 bottles of Astroglide lubricant, 200 bottles of baby oil and a cache of weapons, including AR-15-style firearms, Smith & Wesson rifles and a Ruger rifle.
- Jonathan Perez, one of Diddy’s former personal assistants, recounted finding a video recording of a “freak off” featuring Diddy’s ex-girlfriend “Jane” on a company iPad. Perez said Diddy kept cash, cocaine, ketamine, Adderall, Xanax and molly in a Gucci pouch — a must-have for the “king nights” the defendant spent in hotels with women.
- Perez, under cross-examination from defense lawyerBrian Steel, said Jane appeared to be a willing participant in “king nights.” Perez agreed with Steel that those nights took place on Diddy’s personal time, outside of work — complicating the U.S. government’s allegation that the defendant used professional resources to run a criminal enterprise.
ALSO: Juror #6 could be dismissed from the panel after he allegedly gave conflicting answers about where he lives. Judge Arun Subramanian is going to make a decision next week on whether to remove and replace the juror in question.
— Daniel Arkin, national reporter
🔎 The view from inside
By Adam Reiss, Chloe Melas, Katherine Koretski and Jing Feng
Ye, the controversial hip-hop artist formerly known as Kanye West, arrived at the courthouse today in an apparent show of support for Diddy. The scene was wild, with reporters running for the elevators or sprinting across the outdoor promenade to get a closer look.
Ye’s appearance was notable partly because so few high-profile celebrities have publicly aligned themselves with Diddy since he came under federal investigation. However, Ye didn’t enter the courtroom. He left the building after about 30 minutes, following a brief stop in the overflow area.
In other news: Maurene Comey, one of the prosecutors, complained to the judge that Diddy was “nodding emphatically” as his ex-girlfriend Jane and the Homeland Security agent testified. Steel pushed back, saying his client has been “nothing but professional.”
Subramanian, who scolded Diddy’s team last week after the rapper apparently made facial expressions at jurors, told Comey it would be “impossible to police” everyone in the courtroom but made clear “we will keep an eye out” for any inappropriate behavior.
Diddy appeared to be experiencing sinus congestion today, grabbing tissues and blowing his nose audibly on a few occasions. He appeared engaged in the proceedings, seeming to listen closely to the federal agent’s testimony and regularly passing sticky notes to his attorneys.
👨⚖️ Analysis: The character question
By Danny Cevallos
One thing federal prosecutors are really good at is finding a way to bring in evidence that has little to do with the alleged crimes, but makes the defendant look really bad.
We’ve heard a lot of testimony about Diddy’s girlfriends finding out about his apparent romantic trips with other women. We’ve heard about Combs getting caught going to the Caribbean with another woman. More recently, Jane and Perez testified about Jane finding out Diddy took another woman on a trip to Wyoming.
Diddy cheating on his girlfriends has virtually nothing to do with sex trafficking or racketeering. It shows how assistants helped cover up and facilitate Diddy’s lifestyle. But the cheating? Not really essential to any element of a crime. Instead, there’s one piece of evidence that the prosecution wants to introduce but is largely prohibited from doing so: his bad character.
Evidence of a defendant’s lousy morality is usually inadmissible because it’s unfair. We don’t want juries convicting defendants because they are bad people. We want juries to convict defendants because they are guilty of that particular crime.
Evidence of bad character is just too powerful: It’s hard for us to give anyone — let alone a criminal defendant — a fair chance after we’ve heard they’ve done terrible things. Prosecutors know this. That’s why they try to find ways to crowbar this kind of evidence into the case (lawfully, of course).
🗓 What’s next
The prosecution is expected to rest its case sometime next week.
PSA: Every night during Diddy’s trial, NBC’s “Dateline” will drop special episodes of the “True Crime Weekly” podcast to get you up to speed. “Dateline” correspondent Andrea Canning chats with NBC News’ Chloe Melas and special guests — right in front of the courthouse. Listen here.
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