A jury reached a partial verdict Tuesday in the sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs in New York federal court but has been unable to agree on the most serious charge facing the music mogul – racketeering.
A note from the jury to Judge Arun Subramanian did not say whether the verdict on four of the five counts against Combs, 55, was guilty or not guilty.
"We have reached a verdict on counts 2, 3, 4 and 5. We are unable to reach a verdict on count 1 as we have jurors with unpersuadable opinions on both sides," the jury note said.
The judge instructed the jury to continue deliberations on the racketeering charge, but dismissed them for the day and asked them to return Wednesday.
Count One accuses Combs of being the ringleader of a criminal organization that forced women into coercive sex marathons with escorts. It carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
In addition to racketeering, Combs faces two charges of sex trafficking and two charges of transportation for purposes of prostitution.
Combs's star fell dramatically when his former partner of 11 years, the singer Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, filed a civil lawsuit accusing him of disturbing sexual, physical and emotional abuse.
That case was settled out of court for $20 million, but it triggered an avalanche of similarly harrowing civil lawsuits and eventually criminal charges.
The seven-week trial included at times disturbing testimony – two women spoke of feeling forced into lurid sex parties, and some former employees told jurors of violent outbursts – along with thousands of pages of phone, financial and audiovisual records.
Central to the prosecution's case is its accusation that Combs led a criminal enterprise of senior employees who "existed to serve his needs" and enforced his power with offenses including forced labor, drug distribution, kidnapping, bribery, witness tampering and arson.
But defense attorney Marc Agnifilo underscored that none of those individuals testified against Combs, nor were they named as co-conspirators.
Many witnesses were given immunity to avoid incriminating themselves.
To convict Combs on racketeering, jurors must find that prosecutors showed beyond a reasonable doubt that he agreed with people within his organization to commit at least two of the eight crimes forming the racketeering charge.
The eight men and four women must reach a unanimous decision on each count.