The trial of P. Diddy has the potential to go down as one of many largest of our time, much like the O.J. Simpson or Rodney King instances, as Sean Combs fights costs of intercourse trafficking, racketeering and extra. In any case, however particularly in high-profile trials like this one, each element issues. And, on this case, there’s one strategic determination that’s allegedly been made by Diddy’s workforce that connects the music mogul to previous defendants just like the Menendez brothers — his sweaters.
What’s Behind The Sweaters Diddy Has Been Sporting In Courtroom?
By now, many who’ve been maintaining with Sean Combs’ trial has seen the artist renderings of the rapper along with his grey hair and goatee and, when you puzzled why the defendant is sporting blue, grey or beige sweaters quite than a go well with, prison protection lawyer Mark Geragos says (per the New York Occasions) it’s an try to faucet “into the collective unconscious of the jury.” He stated:
Jurors discover every thing.
Mark Geragos has defended numerous high-profile purchasers, together with Lyle and Erik Menendez. He’s the daddy of Sean Combs’ protection lawyer, Teny Geragos, however isn’t concerned on this case.
Teny Geragos spoke in her opening assertion about who the prosecution was “making an attempt to make my shopper out to be,” and Diddy’s wardrobe appears to be taking part in a job in combating that. Much like the “nerd protection,” which contends {that a} jury will affiliate a defendant’s glasses with intelligence and lack of bodily power, the sweaters worn by P. Diddy — who can also be sporting studying glasses throughout the trial — will evoke some subliminal sympathies.
As jury guide Jo-Ellan Dimitrius put it:
They’re searching for any clue accessible to get a greater sense of who the defendant is.
Sweaters and different knitwear are snuggly and delicate. They’re related to grandparents, consolation and heat. Not solely this, however the jury guide stated sporting sweaters as a substitute of fits distances Diddy from his identification as a businessman or somebody who may need carried out unlawful actions from a place of nice energy.
How Sean Combs’ Trial Is Linked To The Menendez Brothers’
Sean Combs is way from the primary individual to make use of the so-called “sweater protection.” The primary trial wherein that situation was extremely publicized was apparently Lyle and Erik Menendez’s homicide trial in 1993. Their lawyer, Leslie Abramson, seemingly tried to make the 20-somethings seem youthful and extra harmless by having the brothers put on pastel sweaters. The wardrobe alternative has turn into half of popular culture, even being referenced within the dramatized Ryan Murphy collection Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story with Lyle (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) telling a buddy:
Purchase me a yellow sweater. Ever see a violent man sporting a yellow sweater?
Luigi Mangione additionally wore a sweater when he was on trial for the homicide of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, along with his burgundy crew neck and khaki pants making a “boy subsequent door” aesthetic, in keeping with jury guide Jo-Ellan Dimitrius.
It’s attention-grabbing to have a look at how a lot impression issues like wardrobe and physique language can play in a trial like this, nevertheless it’s additionally one other level to the argument that a few of the most mundane particulars of Sean Combs’ case are essentially the most attention-grabbing. Diddy can’t talk with the jurors instantly (underneath menace of getting barred from the courtroom), however there might not be a complete lot the decide or prosecution can do if the protection is ready to play to the jury’s unconscious biases.