A juror in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal intercourse trafficking trial was dismissed on Monday, June sixteenth, as a consequence of conflicting details about his residency. The choice by US District Decide Arun Subramanian came to visit the objections of Combs’ legal professionals, who had accused the prosecution of racial bias.
The difficulty was first raised final week by the lead prosecutor, Assistant US Legal professional Maurene Comey, who cited a “lack of candor” from Juror No. 6 about his place of residency.
Throughout jury choice, the juror, a 41-year-old Black man, stated he lived within the Bronx along with his fiancée. In a latest dialog with a court docket employees member, nevertheless, he stated he had not too long ago moved in along with his girlfriend in New Jersey.
After talking with the juror in his robing room on Friday, Decide Subramanian concluded the person had given inconsistent solutions. On Monday, he finalized the choice by saying, “There’s nothing that the juror may say at this level that might put the genie again within the bottle,” based on The New York Instances.
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When prosecutors initially raised considerations, Combs’ legal professional, Alexandra Shapiro, accused the federal government of creating a “thinly veiled effort to dismiss a Black juror,” noting that Juror No. 6 was considered one of two Black males on the jury.
In direct response to this declare, Decide Subramanian acknowledged, “To be completely clear, from the outset of this continuing to the present date, there was no proof and no displaying of any type of any biased conduct or biased method of continuing from the federal government.”
As reported in PEOPLE, the dismissed juror has been changed by a 57-year-old white accountant from Westchester County.