Prosecutors said they now expect Combs could face a prison sentence “substantially higher” than the four to five years they once thought likely after his conviction on two prostitution-related charges.
Combs, 55, faces up to a decade in prison for each of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution for flying people around the country for sexual encounters.
The stratospheric heights of his previous life may be impossible to regain, but the question remains whether a partial conviction could mean a partial public rehabilitation, or if too much damage has been done.
The mixed result came on the third day of deliberations. It could still send Combs, 55, to prison for as long as a decade, and is likely to end his career as a hitmaking music executive, fashion entrepreneur, brand ambassador and reality TV star.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian ordered the jury to continue its closed-door discussions for a third day after the panel said Tuesday that it was unable to reach consensus on the top count: racketeering conspiracy.
The question was posed by the Manhattan judge after the prosecution rested following a more than six-week-long presentation of evidence against the hip-hop mogul.
Closing arguments were tentatively scheduled for Thursday after what was expected to be a brief defense presentation.
Attorney Marc Agnifilo told Judge Arun Subramanian that the defense presentation could last less than two days and not more than five, an estimate that would likely not apply if Combs testified.
The second day of cross-examination seemed aimed at supporting the defense position that the woman was a willing participant in the sometimes-weekly sex with male sex workers that Combs directed.
Prosecutors allege Combs used violence, threats and a network of employees and associates to control and abuse women for two decades.
The woman said Combs forced her to have a “freak-off”-style sexual encounter with a male sex worker last year after chasing her around her California home, putting her in a chokehold.
Bryana ‘Bana’ Bongolan told jurors that Combs lifted her over the railing of a 17th-floor balcony for 10-15 seconds before pulling her back and throwing her onto patio furniture.
A hotel security guard testified Tuesday that the hip-hop mogul gave him a brown paper bag stuffed with $100,000 in cash in order to buy the surveillance footage
A Manhattan federal declined to rule immediately, leaving in place for now charges that Adams accepted perks and illegal campaign contributions from foreign interests.
Ho, an Ivy League-educated former civil rights lawyer and law professor, has shown no signs of being a rubber stamp — one way or the other.
President-elect Donald Trump was formally sentenced Friday in his hush money case, but the judge declined to impose any punishment. The outcome cements Trump’s conviction while freeing him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine.
A federal judge is set to hear arguments Friday on whether to hold Rudy Giuliani in contempt of court for continuing to spread lies about two Georgia election workers after they secured a $148 million defamation judgment against him.
In a singular moment in U.S. history, President-elect Donald Trump faces sentencing Friday for his New York hush money conviction after the nation’s highest court refused to intervene.
His attorney complained that comments coming from New York’s mayor would make it tough to receive a fair trial.
A judge Monday refused to throw out President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity. But the overall future of the historic case remains unclear.