The judge in Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial rejected the music mogul's second request for a mistrial. CBS News legal contributor Caroline Polisi breaks down the case so far.

Manhattan

A federal judge has rejected Sean "Diddy" Combs' latest request for a mistrial in his sex trafficking and racketeering case. The defense's motion was based on testimony concerning an alleged incident involving a close associate, but the judge did not find grounds for a mistrial.

The trial continues to focus on the government's RICO conspiracy charges, with testimony from witnesses including Combs' ex-girlfriend, who testified under a pseudonym. Prosecutors are working to connect various allegations to the broader conspiracy, while the defense challenges the credibility of witness statements and maintains that Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Judge rejects Sean "Diddy" Combs' new mistrial request

Dawn Diddy Combs' latest request for a mistrial in a sex trafficking case has been rejected as his recent ex-girlfriend, testifying under the pseudonym Jane, faced cross-examination on Tuesday. The defense questioned her about sexually explicit texts she exchanged with Combs and expensive gifts she received from him. Combs has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. CBS News legal contributor, Caroline Polisi, joins us now for analysis of this case. I want it to you, Caroline. You know, there's been plenty by now of shocking testimony about the specific, but I'm wondering about the specifics when it comes to the charges against Combs. You know, there's things that have really described his character as quite deplorable, but has the jury seen concrete proof yet of this conspiracy of trafficking and racketeering? Well, that's exactly the right question, Errol, because we have to remember this is a RICO conspiracy case along with two counts of sex trafficking, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, but that RICO charge is really the crux of the government's case. And while we've heard dramatic testimony about specific instances of violence, this is a federal case. This is not a state abuse or domestic violence case. And so prosecutors do need to tie together all of these instances of abuse, of obstruction, of potential arson, of all the allegations about a RICO conspiracy. And so yesterday we heard from Jane, it's a pseudonym, but that's the second victim alleged in this case about sex trafficking. And I think what we need to remember here is that that plays into the RICO conspiracy. And conspiracy, there is the word conspiracy there, meaning that other individuals were involved. And so you heard a lot of testimony elicited from the government about, well, who was around the circles? Who was setting up these hotel nights? Who obtained the drugs or gave you the drugs to fly with in order to have them during these evenings? Things like that, payment. So there's a lot of elements of these offenses that go far beyond merely the violence. And I think that you see prosecutors really trying to focus on those elements now that were later on in this case. And meanwhile, the defense has had real issues with what's been said on the stand. They keep moving for a mistrial. What was the judge's reason for rejecting the defense's second mistrial request? Yeah, not uncommon for defense attorneys to move for mistrials. They likely know they won't be granted, but they just wanna lay the foundation for a record on appeal if there is a conviction. But this mistrial motion had to do with testimony elicited from a close and personal confidant of Sean Combs who said she was dangled from a 17-story balcony. And it goes back to Cassie Ventura. I remember that first victim's testimony regarding her saying to the jurors that she actually witnessed this event happen. Now, fast forward when we get to this woman Bongelin's testimony, and we see text messages exchanged that show that Cassie said that she just heard about it after the fact. And so the defense thinks that this was prosecutorial misconduct, but they put on perjured testimony in front of the jury. So that's the issue. All right, Caroline Polisi with great analysis there. Thanks for joining us this morning. Appreciate it.

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