The Trial: A Jury of One’s Peers
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What is the focus of this episode on The Crime Scene Weekly?
Hey, it's Brad Milkey. This week on The Crime Scene Weekly, we're talking about a mom who gained national attention for faking her own kidnapping. Sherry Papini is back in the spotlight, but now she's changing her story and trying to change her custody arrangement with her kids. Listen to the latest from the case on The Crime Scene Weekly.
What are the charges against Sean Combs?
A warning. This episode includes discussion of sexual violence and abuse, so please take care when listening. Jury selection has now started in the trial of music mogul Sean Diddy Combs. I walked into the Southern District of New York courthouse yesterday for the first day of jury selection. Combs is facing federal criminal charges of racketeering, conspiracy, and sex trafficking. He's pled not guilty and denies all allegations. The timing of the start of jury selection, May 5th, coincides with another big New York City event, the Met Gala. It's something Diddy attended many times in his old life. If he had still been the old Diddy, yesterday, he probably would have been getting dressed in something glamorous and high-concept from his label, Sean John.
Instead, he was seated in a grand courtroom with high ceilings and rich wood, wearing a dark, navy crew-neck sweater over a white button-down. No tie with slacks. He wasn't cuffed or shackled. Two marshals sat behind him. He got permission from the court to wear something other than the beige jail smock he had been wearing for prior court appearances. His hair was a mix of salt and pepper, leaning more towards salt. There are no cameras or microphones allowed in the courtroom. But if you'd been there, you'd have heard the judge open the day by saying, welcome to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. With the exception of voting, for most citizens, the honor and privilege of jury service is their participation in the democratic process. This is Bad Rap, the case against Diddy. I'm Brian Buckmeyer, an ABC News legal contributor and trial attorney. This episode, a jury of one's peers. Let's get to it. So I got to court at about 7.30 a.m.
How is jury selection conducted in a high-profile federal trial?
And thanks to the great producers and line waiters at ABC, I was able to do so. Because the line started at 12 a.m. that morning. The person who was waiting in line for me that I relieved at 7.30, they were second in line. And behind me stretched about another 30 or 40 people. The vibe outside was kind of anticipatory, waiting, are we gonna get in? It's like trying to get into your favorite nightclub and you don't know where exactly the cutoff's going to be, but we're all excited to get in. Once you get into the Southern District of New York, it's first security, right? I go up to the 26th floor. But inside the court, the way federal court operates is you have the judge all the way in the front, you have a large kind of wall that is about waist high with a swinging door that allows you to come in and out of it. And in what we call the well of the court, there are three large rows of tables.
And the government walked in as a powerful group of women, because it isn't a group of women who are representing the United States of America in this case, and they sat in the first row. Behind them, there are so many attorneys and people representing Sean Combs that they occupy two rows of tables. The entire left side of the courtroom is left open because that's where prospective jurors eventually come in. When Sean Combs ultimately does come in, he hugged his attorneys and he looks back just ever so slightly and then kind of faces forward again. No big gestures or smiles or whatever it may be. The goal of jury selection is to find a jury of one's peers, because that's the constitutional right that we all have. As we sat in the courtroom, about 54 or 55 people of varying demographics, whether it be race, gender, age, walked in. And they occupied not just that section that was left empty for them, but there was an overflow that actually had to sit in the jury box as well.
And at that point, the judge began the process of jury selection, welcoming the jury into the courtroom, explaining to them why they were there, that he expected the case to go on for at least eight weeks, but trying to give people the hope that this isn't going to go as far as Independence Day.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the focus of this episode on The Crime Scene Weekly?
0:00–0:23
2
What are the charges against Sean Combs?
0:23–2:33
3
How is jury selection conducted in a high-profile federal trial?
2:33–5:34
4
What challenges are faced during the jury selection process?
5:34–6:44
5
How does the court handle sensitive topics during jury selection?
6:44–9:16
6
What happens after the initial jury selection phase?
9:16–17:02