Sean "Diddy" Combs' lawyer calls prosecution of music mogul a "fake trial," says evidence "badly exaggerated"
Sean "Diddy" Combs was portrayed in his lawyer's closing argument on Friday as the victim of an overzealous prosecution that tried to turn the recreational use of drugs and a swinger lifestyle into a racketeering conspiracy that could put the music mogul behind bars for life.
Attorney Marc Agnifilo mocked the government's case against Combs and belittled the agents who seized hundreds of bottles of Astroglide lubricant and baby oil at his properties as he began his four-hour presentation Friday in a New York courtroom.
"Way to go, fellas," he said of the agents.
He said prosecutors had "badly exaggerated" evidence of a swinger lifestyle and threesomes to combine it with recreational drug use and call it a racketeering conspiracy.
"He did not do the things he's charged with. He didn't do racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking," the lawyer said.
Agnifilo said of Combs: "He sits there innocent. Return him to his family who have been waiting for him."
Agnifilo called Combs' prosecution a "fake trial" and ridiculed the notion that he engaged in racketeering. "Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?" Agnifilo asked. "Did any witness get on that witness stand and say yes, I was part of a racketeering enterprise — I engaged in racketeering?" No, Agnifilo argued, telling jurors that those accusations were a figment of the prosecution's imagination.
The lawyer argued prosecutors had invaded Combs' most intimate personal affairs, telling jurors: "Where's the crime scene? It's your sex life."
Agnifilo also argued there's another factor at play in the allegations that women have lobbed against Combs: the prospect of draining him of his wealth through lawsuits.
"This isn't about crime. It's about money. This is about money," Agnifilo said.
In the prosecution's rebuttal, Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey said Agnifilo had spent "a whole lot of energy" trying to distract from Combs' "inexcusable behavior."
"Make no mistake," Comey told jurors, "this trial was about how in Sean Combs' world, 'no' was never an option."
In his closing argument, Agnifilo reiterated that the defense "owns" the fact that Combs was violent but argued that behavior does not justify the grave charges against him.
Combs and R&B singer Cassie Ventura Fine had a "loving, beautiful relationship," albeit a "complicated" one, Agnifilo said. "If racketeering conspiracy had an opposite, it would be their relationship," Agnifilo said. "They were deeply in love with each other."
In her rebuttal, Comey said, "Being a domestic abuser is not a defense to sex trafficking."
Jurors are expected to begin deliberating on Monday.
Combs' family, including six of his children and his mother, were in the audience for the defense's closing, which took place a day after the prosecution made its closing arguments Thursday — after calling on 34 witnesses over the course of seven weeks. Combs' ex-girlfriend, Ventura Fine, and rapper Kid Cudi, were among those who testified.
The trial of Combs, 55, began on May 12. Prosecutors allege he relied on employees, resources and influence of his business empire to create a criminal enterprise that engaged in — or attempted to engage in — "sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for the purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice."
Combs has denied the allegations against him and pleaded not guilty to five counts. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.
Combs has been present at the trial but told U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian earlier this week that he decided not to testify.
"I mean, it's my decision with my lawyers. ... My decision to make. I'm making it," he said.
The defense rested on Tuesday after presenting its case for less than 30 minutes. It didn't call any witnesses.
Combs' lawyers built their case for acquittal through lengthy cross-examinations of government witnesses. Some testified only in response to subpoenas and insisted they didn't want to be there.
In federal prosecutors' closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik said to the jury that Combs used "power, violence and fear" to rule a criminal enterprise, which allegedly facilitated brutal sex crimes. Slavik said Combs "counted on silence and shame" to allow his abuse to continue. She also said he used a "small army" of employees to harm women and then cover it up.
"He thought that his fame, wealth and power put him above the law," she said.
