Jurors started deliberating Monday in Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking case, weighing charges that could put the hip-hop mogul in prison for life.Judge Arun Subramanian began reading instructions on the law on Monday morning to the jury of eight men and four women.Now, they'll sift through seven weeks of sometimes graphic and emotional testimony about the rap, fashion and reality TV impresario's propensity for violence and his sexual predilections, including drug-fueled sex marathons dubbed "freak-offs" or "hotel nights."Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking — relating to two of his ex-girlfriends — and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution for allegedly arranging to fly sex workers across state lines.CBS News legal contributor Caroline Polisi, a criminal defense attorney, said the prosecution's best chance at getting a conviction could be with the sex trafficking charges."The prosecution made clear there only has to be one instance, out of these hundreds of 'freak-offs,' one instance where it was coerced by force, fraud or coercion, and that can include threats of harm that doesn't even include physical harm," Polisi said.
"So that can include fear of financial harm, fear of reputational harm.Remember, he videotaped all of these encounters, and the government laid out specific instances where he threatened to release those tapes." In closing arguments last week, federal prosecutors and Combs' defense team took their last shots at convincing jurors to convict or acquit the Grammy Award-winning founder of Bad Boy Records.
"The defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted," Assistant U.S.Attorney Christy Slavik said.
"He thought that his fame, wealth and power put him above the law."She said that he used his "close inner circle and a small army of personal staff, who made it their mission to meet the defendant's every desire, promote his pow...