This week, the documentary series “Sean Combs: The Reckoning” arrived in the Netflix catalogue, a production that analyzes the accusations against the hip-hop mogul. In October, he was sentenced to four years and two months in prison on prostitution-related charges.
The documentary interviews some of the jurors who participated in the artist’s trial so that they can explain what they took into account when casting their votes.
The jury acquitted Diddy of the most serious crimes: racketeering, which could carry a life sentence, and sex trafficking of his ex-girlfriends, which could result in another two decades in prison.
However, he was convicted of transporting people across US state borders for the purpose of prostitution, a crime that involved two former girlfriends – singer Cassie Ventura and an unidentified woman who used the alias Jane in court.
One juror interviewed in the documentary stated that she was certain of her vote, but knew that the verdict would cause controversy precisely because it was more moderate than public opinion had expected.
“When we were in the deliberation room and we came to an agreement where he was only guilty of two charges, my exact words were: ‘Oh, fuck,'” she said in the series.
Another juror stated that she cast her vote without taking into account the domestic violence accusations against the rapper. In May last year, a video captured by surveillance cameras showed Diddy physically assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
One man said he was unsure of the degree of Combs’ culpability, as Ventura had been in an on-and-off relationship with him for 11 years.
“The day after (the domestic violence), they were texting each other as if nothing had happened,” the juror said. “If you don’t like something, you leave (the relationship) completely. You can’t have it both ways.”