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This is On Trial, a special series from Dateline True Crime Weekly, bringing you daily coverage of the Sean Combs racketeering trial.
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I'm Blaine Alexander, and it's Wednesday, July 2nd. Just a heads up, in this episode, we're going to be talking about some graphic details and harrowing subject matter.
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Today, after more than 13 hours of deliberation over three days, the jury emerged with a verdict.
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NBC News correspondent Chloe Malas has been downtown the duration of this entire trial,
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and she joins us now in front of the federal courthouse to tell us what the jury decided and how the courtroom reacted.
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Chloe, hi. Hey, Blaine. We have a verdict. Wow. We do, and it's split. It's split. So just kind of break down this verdict for us.
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He was facing five counts. How did the jury decide here? Not guilty on RICO conspiracy and sex trafficking,
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guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. That's the escort element hiring these men
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who would perform at those drug-fueled sex parties known as freak-offs. This is a huge victory for Combs' legal team
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that's been nicknamed the Dream Team and a massive blow for the prosecutors. Let's talk about the reaction inside the courtroom.
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I'm so curious how Combs was reacting when the verdict was read. He held his hands in prayer form and kind of looked over at the jury.
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You could tell he was overcome with emotion. And then at one point, kneeling down on the floor and praying over his chair.
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There's a really powerful courtroom sketch for anybody that's interested, since there aren't cameras in the courtroom.
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One of his lawyers, Tenny Garagos, began to cry. We saw her wiping away tears, his mother, who's been in court every single day, blowing kisses and his children clapping.
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And outside the courthouse, a lot of supporters, people saying free ditty and people wearing free puffy shirts.
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I mean, there is a massive amount of people here, definitely over 150 people, a pretty big police presence.
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You mentioned that this was a big blow to the prosecution. How were they reacting when the verdict was read?
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stoic, but obviously they're disappointed. They've released a statement saying that they are grateful
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for all of the investigators who took part in this, as well as the victims who came forward,
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and they acknowledged how difficult it is to speak out about crimes like sex trafficking,
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and that they fight for justice. I'm very curious about the jury. You mentioned that
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Combs kind of turned and gave prayer hands to them. But how did jurors respond as the decision
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was read out? I mean, they were stone-faced, not really looking over at Combs. He nodded to the
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jurors and the judge thanked them for all of their time. And I said all along, I was looking at these
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jurors in the courtroom and I would tell Andrea, I would say, some of them are sleeping, they're
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rolling their eyes, they're shaking their heads. During closing arguments last week, Mark Agnifolo
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so eliciting laughter from these jurors. I think that is just so interesting to hear, Chloe,
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that when you think about the way that the jurors were responding, because there kind of a backstory to this verdict coming out We got the verdict this morning but yesterday there was some activity as well Let just kind of back up and talk a little bit about yesterday evening Yeah So at 4 I was inside the courthouse for the first time that day because I was so hot
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and I decided to get some federal air conditioning. So I went into something called the overflow room,
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which is where you can watch the trial on televisions, closed circuit. I was like,
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I'm not going to go up to the courtroom because there's only about an hour left.
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And I noticed the prosecutors, Diddy's legal team filing back into the courtroom.
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And it was clear that something was going on. Although everyone thought, oh, it's just a jury note saying that the jury wants to go home.
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I'm like, well, it's 4.15. That's 45 minutes early. That's a little strange. Combs was sitting there looking stressed.
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And then they handed him the jury note. And you saw him rub his eyes, shake his head, look at the ground.
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And at one point, I thought he was going to cry. and that's when I ran. I bolted out of that courthouse.
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Luckily, I wasn't wearing heels but what I found out when I came outside is that it was raining.
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So I was running through the rain and when I got to the tent where our cameras are,
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all of our producers, they're all following along in this live Google document because we have other reporters
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in something called the media room where they are taking live notes on their computers.
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We cannot reach a verdict on count one. There you go. because we have jurors with unpersuadable views.
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Next thing you know, I was putting on my verdict blazer and I was on TV. One, I love that you have a verdict blazer.
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But number two, everyone needs one of those, right? When covering a trial. Yes. Behind the scenes, jury goes home.
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It's about 520. The judge says, go home. Come back at 9 a.m. You got there earlier than 9 a.m.
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You were out there to do a hit for today's show. What was the mood outside while we were waiting for this day of deliberations to begin?
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Pretty quiet. I got here around 630 in the morning. And if they want a long weekend, they will be coming back on Monday, July 7th.
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Craig? Chloe Malas outside the courthouse for us there. Chloe, thank you. Then I decided to go into the overflow room, lay my eyes on combs for what could potentially be the last time,
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because I knew I would not be in there for the verdict that I would need to go up live
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for a special report on NBC News. And I'm really glad that I did. I saw him turn around and start praying with his family,
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his six children that were in the courtroom. All of his children pretty much were wearing black, and they were pretty somber.
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And then I came out just in case something happened, and I was actually headed to get a coffee, and I paid for it.
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And that coffee, it's still there. I need to go back and get my coffee, okay, Blaine?
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Because I got a call from Candace Kuo, one of our producers, and she goes, run. And I ran like something out of Forrest Gump.
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Chloe, let's talk about how quickly that happened. Because 9 a.m., the jury is beginning their deliberations.
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At 10.02, I went back and looked. 10.02, my phone started buzzing saying, hey, there's a possible verdict.
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So we're talking about just over an hour after coming to the judge yesterday and saying, hey, we can't come to a decision here.
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That part was really surprising to me, Blaine, because we knew that there were, quote,
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unpersuadable jurors So the fact that like a good night sleep and some coffee might have helped them come to a unanimous decision Stunningly short amount of time to go from we can reach a decision to we got it When we come back where is Combs now
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So, Chloe, after the verdict, there was a bail hearing at 5 p.m. today. And the question at hand was, could Combs go home while waiting for sentencing?
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Or is he headed back to jail? As soon as the verdict came down, his team and his lead defense attorney, Mark Ignifolo, he came out swinging.
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He was like, set my client free, essentially. The bail was denied. The judge said that, you know, he was denied bail after he was arrested last September.
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And he sees no reason to change that. That's exactly what he said. He said that, plus, there was some of the evidence that came out at trial that he was violent with Cassie and his other girlfriend, Jane.
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The judge actually pulled up the transcript from when Combs' defense team said, quote,
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we own the domestic violence. Diddy's defense team looking stone cold after they had been so emotive earlier in the day.
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Yeah. What an emotional kind of roller coaster for Combs and his team. You and I talked last week about that moment with Combs' defense team saying,
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you know, we own the domestic violence. I hope you guys know that. But essentially, that came back to haunt them today.
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It definitely did. The judge said that this evidence that was presented during the trial shows that Combs broke laws while he was under federal investigation.
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Now, the judge, he didn't mention this part, but Cassie Ventura, she's weighed in on this bail hearing via a letter from her lawyer, Doug Wigdor.
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And it says, quote, Miss Ventura believes that Mr. Combs is likely to pose a danger to the victims who testified in this case, including herself, as well as to the community.
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Have we heard any reaction from her to the verdict? We haven't heard directly from her, but Douglas Wigdor spoke to the press this morning.
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The reaction is that we're pleased that he's finally been held responsible for two federal crimes,
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something that he's never faced in his life. Of course, we would have liked to have seen a conviction on the sex crimes in RICO,
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but we understand beyond a reasonable doubt is a high standard. And we're just pleased that he still faces substantial jail time.
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And do we know exactly how long of a prison term he's facing here? We don't. The mandatory maximum is 10 years, Blaine.
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His legal team asking for about 24 months. But then you have the prosecutors wanting upwards of 50 months.
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So I feel like they're going to have to split the baby here. And he's going to get a couple of years time served, maybe out a little early for good behavior.
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So he's going to be there back at MDC for a couple of months, it seems, until this sentencing hearing.
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We know that on July 8th, they're going to have a pre-sentencing hearing. And both sides are supposed to meet and try to come to some sort of an agreement even before that.
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Yeah, I mean, it's so interesting to think that earlier in the day, Chloe Combs and his team were possibly thinking that he was going to walk out the front doors of the courthouse today.
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And now it's clear he's headed back to MDC. I guess my question is, are we are we expecting to see an appeal from Combs?
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He had an appellate lawyer the whole time on his legal team Her name is Alexandra Shapiro And I actually spoke to her colleague today I mean they are literally putting things on the record for a
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potential appeal. So even if it's a short prison sentence, he could try to get an appeal and you
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never know. All right. I first want to thank my client, Sean Combs, for trusting us, myself and
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everybody here, this incredible dream team that he put together. We heard from Combs defense team
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in the form of a press conference today. I want our listeners to take a listen to a little bit of that.
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Today's a great victory. It's a great victory for Sean Combs. It's a great victory for the jury system.
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You saw that the Southern District of New York prosecutors came at him with all that they had.
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They're not stopping, but one thing stands between all of us and a prison, and that is a jury of 12 citizens.
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Chloe, what about the jurors? I mean, I know that reporters from every single media outlet, certainly you included, I'm sure, are wanting to hear from them, wanting to get in touch with them.
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The judge said today that they're not prohibited from speaking to the public. They can speak if they want to, but he essentially dissuaded them from doing so, right?
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Well, they all left in a sprinter van together. Who knows where they go from here?
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I'm almost certain, Blaine, that we're going to hear from at least a couple of them.
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But definitely, that is really the next step other than hearing from Combs himself.
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I just want to get your final thoughts on this. I mean, you've covered not only this trial for the better part of two months, but really every twist, every turn in the Combs saga, the civil lawsuits.
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If you could just give me your thoughts on the verdict, your reaction, and just where do you think things go from here?
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Well, I have many thoughts. And I have learned a lot about sexual abuse. Obviously, my main job is to tell a story and get the facts right.
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And it's been unbelievable to be really getting a front row seat to history, especially in the music industry and across the entertainment industry.
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But again, the story is still not over. Well, Chloe, I think it's been a fascinating trial to watch.
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You've done an incredible job of covering it from beginning to end. And I thank you, as always, for your insights today and throughout the entire duration of the trial.
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Thank you. Thank you so much. It's been so amazing working with the Dateline team, you, Andrea, and our producers, Franny, who's been here every single day on the sidewalk, and obviously Allison Orr and Liz and everybody over at Dateline.
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Thanks so much for listening. On Trial is produced by Franny Kelly with help from the Dateline True Crime Weekly team.
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Our senior producers are Allison Orr and Liz Brown-Kurloff. Original music by Jesse McGinty.
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Paul Ryan is executive producer, and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateline.
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And we'd like to name a few more people who made this whole series possible. Thanks very much to Adam Reese, Kat Corrigan, Sue Kroll, Candice Kuo, Jen Fang, Catherine Koretsky, Austin Mullen, and Mike Callia.
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Thanks also to Bryson Barnes, Rob Byers, and Hazik Benamad Farid. And a very special thanks to Cheryl David and Lindsay Gaza.
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