Updated May 9, 2025 at 4:39 PM EDT
The final steps of jury selection for the Sean Combs trial have been pushed to Monday. There are fears that selected jurors may back out of serving on the highly publicized case in the next few days.
Combs, who has been in custody since his arrest last September, faces charges of sex trafficking, transporting to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy. During questioning earlier in the week, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian warned jurors that serving on the case will involve sitting through graphic testimony and evidence. The trial is expected to last eight weeks.
Peremptory strikes — during which the defense and prosecution will narrow down dozens of potential jurors to the 12 people who will serve on the trial plus six alternates — were originally expected to take place Wednesday afternoon. Judge Subramanian finished questioning the jury pool that day, but was asked by both legal teams to delay strikes until Friday in case any jurors raised additional concerns or grounds for dismissal in the interim.
On Friday morning, prosecutors informed the judge that one of the jurors previously selected to move forward had emailed the court saying issues related to her "personal well being" would prevent her from serving. Upon seeing that the judge was open to further delaying the strikes, Combs' lead defense attorney, Marc Agnifilo, advocated for waiting until Monday, May 12 — the day opening statements are scheduled to begin.
"I think if we started court even 15 minutes early, we'd still start proceedings on time," Agnifilo told the judge.
The U.S. Attorney's office resisted the delay. "We are working against a clock, on our end, that we've very cognizant of," prosecutor Maurene Comey explained.
Ultimately, Judge Subramanian ruled in favor of a delay. The current pool of 43 jurors will be called to court earlier on Monday morning so strikes can be conducted. Combs, wearing a white collared shirt and dark sweater, sat next to his attorneys as the judge announced his decision.
Jury selection began earlier this week in the federal District Court for the Southern District of New York. For three days, Judge Subramanian asked the jury pool about their personal experiences with topics like sexual assault and domestic violence, their knowledge of the allegations against Combs and their ability to remain impartial in light of Combs' presumed innocence — which some jurors struggled with given the case's high profile.
Combs, whose hair has grayed significantly during his time at a Brooklyn jail, watched as potential jurors swore under oath and answered questions. When one of his lawyers requested a brief bathroom break during the first morning of jury selection and the judge resisted, Combs spoke up.
"I'm a little nervous today, your honor," he explained.
The jury pool had received questionnaires ahead of time, which included things like whether they would be able to discuss matters of a sexual nature with other jurors, whether they or anyone close to them has undergone sexual harassment training and whether they've already developed any biases towards Combs or his alleged victims. In court, the judge asked a number of follow-up questions — especially related to jurors' knowledge of the allegations against Combs.
Many jurors brought up both the criminal charges and the several dozen civil lawsuits against Combs. "It's all over social media," one juror told the judge. Again and again, jurors raised the same example: a surveillance video released by CNN last year that shows Combs violently kicking, hitting and dragging his ex-girlfriend, the singer Cassie Ventura, in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016. One juror said the video could be considered "damning evidence," while another called it "shocking" and "scary." Combs shook his head as he listened to jurors discuss the footage. After yet another juror who mentioned the video exited the courtroom, Combs' lead defense attorney, Marc Agnifilo, expressed his frustration over the video's impact on the jury selection process.
Many jurors who had knowledge of the surveillance footage said they would still be able to remain impartial and would only be informed by the evidence presented in court. (Combs' criminal indictment includes a description of the hotel incident. His defense attorneys tried and failed to get the video thrown out as evidence. Prosecutors plan to introduce a version of the video during the trial.) Other jurors were dismissed for admitting they might lean in favor of the alleged victims, sometimes because of their own experiences with sexual assault. Some jurors said they felt biased against wealthy celebrities who may believe they're above following the law. Others were dismissed for standard reasons like medical exemptions, lack of English language proficiency and scheduling conflicts.
Jurors were also shown a list of people and places that are relevant to the case, though the capacity of their involvement is still unknown. Some of the names on the list include celebrities like Michael B Jordan, Kanye West, Mike Myers, Lauren London, Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child, Yung Miami and Kid Cudi.
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