By Jack Queen and Luc Cohen
(Reuters) -Sean “Diddy” Combs’ defense lawyers are set to ask jurors on Friday to clear the hip-hop mogul of sex trafficking and other criminal charges, as his closely watched trial in Manhattan comes to a close.
Combs, a former billionaire known for elevating hip-hop in American culture, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and two counts each of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted on all counts, the Bad Boy Records founder faces a minimum 15-year prison term and could be sentenced to life behind bars.
During the first day of closing arguments on Thursday, a U.S. prosecutor told jurors Combs used “violence and fear” to lead a criminal enterprise that helped him subject two of his former girlfriends to sex trafficking,
“The defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” prosecutor Christy Slavik told jurors in her address. “He thought that his fame, wealth and power put him above the law.”
Combs’ defense lawyers acknowledge that Combs was occasionally violent in domestic relationships, but have argued that his conduct did not amount to sex trafficking because the sex acts described by prosecutors were consensual.
Over more than six weeks of testimony in Manhattan federal court, jurors heard two of Combs’ former girlfriends testify that they took part in days-long, drug-fueled sex parties sometimes called “Freak Offs” with male sex workers while Combs watched, masturbated, and occasionally filmed. Combs did not testify.
The jury saw hotel surveillance footage of Combs beating one of the women in a hallway, and heard Combs’ employees describe setting up hotel rooms and buying drugs for the performances.
Jurors are expected to start deliberations either late on Friday or on Monday. To convict Combs, they must vote unanimously.
(Reporting by Jack Queen and Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Bill Berkrot)
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