Name: Jury selection begins in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial
Uploaded: 2025-05-05T14:35:39.159Z
Duration: 1 min 40 s
Description: CNN’s Elie Honig breaks down the jury selection process in the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex trafficking trial, weighing on what each side will be looking for as the proceeding gets underway on Monday (May 5).

CNN’s Elie Honig breaks down the jury selection process in the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex trafficking trial, weighing on what each side will be looking for as the proceeding gets underway on Monday (May 5).

Manhattan

Jury selection is underway in the criminal trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs, held in federal court in Manhattan. The challenge lies in selecting a fair and impartial jury despite the high-profile nature of the case and the widespread recognition of the defendant. The process begins with a large jury pool, which is narrowed down to twelve jurors and six alternates through a series of questions aimed at determining impartiality.

Prospective jurors are questioned to assess their ability to judge the case fairly, addressing any strong feelings they may have about Combs or the charges, which include racketeering and sex trafficking. Those deemed too biased are dismissed by the judge. Following this, both parties have the opportunity to remove jurors via peremptory strikes—six for the prosecution and ten for the defense. The prosecution may focus on dismissing jurors perceived as sympathetic to Combs, while the defense aims to exclude those who have preconceived notions about the case.

After these steps, the final jury selection is completed, and they hold the responsibility of determining the outcome of the trial.



Jury selection begins in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial

How do you pick a jury in a case where everybody knows the defendant? That'll be the challenge the parties face in the criminal trial of Sean Combs, also known as Diddy, in federal court in Manhattan. It'll be tough, but it's certainly not impossible. We'll start off with a jury pool of hundreds of people, and the goal is to whittle that down to 12 jurors and six alternates who can decide the case fairly and impartially. First, the jurors will be asked a series of questions to decide whether they can really be fair in this case. They'll be asked if they have any strong feelings for or against the defendant, Diddy, or the prosecutors in the Justice Department, or about the charges themselves, which in this case include racketeering, sex trafficking, and other crimes. If a judge determines that any of those jurors are too biased, then he will excuse them for cause. After that part of the process is done, the parties can then use what we call peremptory strikes to get rid of other jurors who they don't like. Under the rules, the prosecution gets six of those strikes, and the defendant gets ten of them. And here's where the strategy comes in. Now, prosecutors are going to be looking out for and trying to eliminate any juror who may have feelings in favor of Diddy, or perhaps any jurors who have doubts about the motivations of the victims who the prosecutors intend to call at trial. On the other side, the defense lawyers are going to be trying to get rid of any jurors who've already heard about this case and already reached some conclusion against their client, against Diddy. At the end of that process, we will be down to our final jury, and they ultimately will decide Diddy's fate.

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