Jury deliberations in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ trial hit early setback

Jurors in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering trial began deliberations Monday.

Roughly an hour after deliberations began, the jury sent back a note. The note said that one of the jurors is not able to follow the instructions given by the judge. The issue could signal a “stealth juror” leading to the possibility of jury nullification, a legal expert told Fox News Digital.

After a lengthy discussion on what to send back to the jury, Judge Arun Subramanian adopted the language for the note proposed by the prosecution. The note sent read, “I received your note. I remind every juror of their duty to deliberate and their obligation to follow my instruction on the law. With that instruction in mind, please continue deliberating.” The note also explained not to include specific details about deliberations in any future notes.

“A juror who ‘cannot follow your honor’s instructions’ is a potential stealth juror and we’re looking at the possibility of jury nullification,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Fox News Digital. “Judge Subramanian can admonish the juror, but if they still refuse to follow instructions, his only real options are to dismiss the juror under Rules 23 and 24 and replace them with an alternate, but that will create an appellate issue, or declare a mistrial and we’ll have to start all over. The defense has to be feeling good right now.”

DIDDY BLOWS KISS TO FAMILY AFTER PROSECUTION PROMISES TO PUT A STOP TO HIS ALLEGED CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

Combs remained in the courtroom for about 20 minutes after the judge decided to provide the jury with the government’s proposed response. He was sitting at the defense table with his attorneys. On his way out of the courtroom, he held up the two books he had with him. One is, “The Power of Positive Thinking.” The other is “The Happiness Advantage.”

“A juror who ‘cannot follow your honor’s instructions’ is a potential stealth juror and we’re looking at the possibility of jury nullification.”

— Neama Rahmani, former federal prosecutor

The jury was sent to deliberate around 11:30 am ET by the federal judge after lengthy instructions. Authorities charged Diddy with racketeering, two counts of sex trafficking and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

A 12-person jury comprised of eight men and four women will make the decision on whether to convict Diddy of federal crimes or let the fallen music mogul walk free following a seven-week trial.

After the judge sent the jury to decide on a foreperson and begin deliberations, the defense raised a request for a slight change in how evidence is presented concerning subject lines as they appear in Blackberry messenger-formatted text messages. The two sides reached an agreement, and it was said that the substance of the evidence would remain unchanged.

The judge then complimented the two sides for a well-tried case. He admired the cooperation of the sides in a logistically complicated case. Subramanian also said this was a great experience for the young attorneys in the room.

Combs then, through Marc Agnifilo, asked if he could be allowed to bring books with him while he waited for a verdict, saying the marshals did not have an issue with it. The judge allowed him to have the books. They did not address which books he would be taking.

Prosecutors began closing arguments Thursday with a focus on Diddy’s alleged stance as the leader of a criminal enterprise, a point they’ve attempted to drive home to the jurors with more than 30 witness testimonies.

The rapper’s defense team, headed by Agnifilo, argued Friday that the prosecution’s evidence proved that the government was targeting Diddy and insisted he was innocent of the charges, which include racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

With a verdict now imminent almost two months after the trial began, jurors face scrutiny as deliberations kicked off Monday in the Manhattan federal court.

WATCH: ATTORNEY BREAKS DOWN ‘TROUBLED’ TREND WITH DIDDY DEFENSE TEAM

“Jurors in a case like this are tasked with a legal burden that intersects with public scrutiny and highly emotional testimony,” sexual abuse attorney Sarah Klein told Fox News Digital. “Deliberations often become a battleground of credibility assessments, legal definitions, and moral weight — especially when a high-profile defendant is involved.”

The government told jurors during closing arguments that Diddy was “the leader of a criminal enterprise.” 

“He doesn’t take no for an answer,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Slavik told the court. “And now you know about many crimes the defendant committed with members of his enterprise: kidnapping of one of the defendant’s employees; arson by trying to blow up a car; forced labor, including of an employee the defendant repeatedly sexually assaulted; bribery of a security officer to keep damning evidence against the defendant buried; and of course, the brutal crimes at the heart of this case — sex trafficking.”

DIDDY DEFENSE CLAIMS HE WAS UNFAIRLY TARGETED, WHILE PROSECUTION SAYS RAPPER THOUGHT HE WAS ‘UNTOUCHABLE’

Agnifilo told jurors that the government lacked quality evidence, and noted that it takes courage for a juror to acquit. “Return him to his family who have been waiting for him,” Agnifilo pleaded with the court.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey fired back during rebuttal that Diddy thought he was “untouchable.”

“For 20 years, the defendant got away with his crimes… That ends in this courtroom… The defendant is not a God,” she said. Comey ended by telling the jury, “It is time to hold him accountable. Find him guilty.”

With closing arguments completed, Judge Arun Subramanian will hand down a detailed list of jury instructions, a detailed list with defining terms and elements of the law agreed upon by both parties to help guide jurors to reach a unanimous verdict. Once the verdict is unanimous, a foreperson will deliver the verdict in court.

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“Those jury instructions are insanely difficult to understand,” criminal defense attorney Nicole Blank Becker told Fox News Digital. “I did it, right? I was the lawyer in it, and I still found them extremely difficult to process.

WATCH: DIDDY JURORS HAVE ‘DIFFICULT’ DECISION AHEAD

“It’s going to be really difficult for [the jury] all to be in the back and even figure out how to start attacking it. So, I believe that the government’s goal with doing that was to just make sure they have every little piece covered. And that it’s there if they get confused or need some help in understanding why the government thinks they proved their case.”

Jurors heard allegations of “freak off” parties involving male escorts and Diddy’s ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. The “Me & U” singer testified that drugs, including ecstasy, ketamine and cocaine, were in regular circulation during the “freak offs” for her to disassociate during the sessions.

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Cassie testified that Diddy raped her on the living room floor in 2018, then left. At the time, she had been dating Alex Fine, who is now her husband. Cassie admitted to seeing Combs again after the alleged rape, telling the jury they had been together for 10 years and had a connection. Diddy and Cassie dated on-and-off from 2007 until 2018. 

Another ex, who testified under the pseudonym “Jane,” told prosecutors there were times she felt coerced into hotel nights with Diddy and that he also still pays for both her legal fees and rent. 

During opening statements of Diddy’s trial, which began on May 5, Teny Geragos asked the jury to consider the federal charges, not the choices of an at-times violent man.

“Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case,” Teny told the court. “This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money. 

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“This case is about voluntary adult choices made by capable adults and consensual relationships. This case is about those real-life relationships, and the government is trying to turn those relationships into a racketeering case, a prostitution case and a sex trafficking case. It will not work.”

Diddy was charged with racketeering conspiracy (RICO); sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution in a federal indictment unsealed Sept. 17. If found guilty, he faces a minimum of 15 years behind bars and a maximum sentence of life in prison.