While there’s no denying that the verdict in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial was a major win for the defense attorneys, it is also true that the euphoria that overtook the rapper’s camp has greatly subsided.
The reason for that was not only the fact that Judge Arun Subramanian denied Diddy bail – like he had already done 4 times before the trial – but also the thought that the Judge’s reasoning for the refusal of the $1 million bail package may be sign of trouble come sentencing time.
In fact, a clever line of argument from the defense that proved successful in the trial may become a liability in the Judge’s decision over how big a sentence to apply to Diddy.
When he rejected the rapper’s pre-sentencing bail, Subramanian leaned on an aspect of the criminal case that his lawyers had to concede: his history of violence.
The judge’s words may indicate his approach sentencing Diddy on the two ‘transporting to prostitution’ charges, ‘each carrying a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison’.
Associated Press reported:
“The judge, citing a now-infamous video of Combs beating a former girlfriend and photographs showing injuries to another ex-girlfriend, made clear that he plans to hold Combs accountable for the years of violence and bullying behavior that were exposed at his eight-week trial.”
The court has latitude in determining a sentence, and even the guidelines are not mandatory.
“Combs’ lawyers want less than the 21 to 27 months in prison that they believe the sentencing guidelines recommend. Prosecutors contend that the guidelines, when properly calculated to include Combs’ crimes and violent history, call for at least four to five years in prison.”
Diddy’s sentencing is set for October, but the judge is open to expediting it, to be discussed at a conference Tuesday (8).
“Combs, his family and his defense team were overjoyed by the verdict, some of them tearing up at the result. Combs pumped his fist in celebration and mouthed ‘thank you’ to jurors. He hugged his lawyers and, after the jury exited, fell to his knees in prayer. But, by the end of the day, Combs was deflated — his dream of going home after more than nine months in jail thwarted by a judge throwing his own lawyers’ words back in their faces.
‘We own the domestic violence. We own it’, Subramanian said, reading from a transcript of Combs lawyer Marc Agnifilo’s closing argument to the jury last week. ‘If he was charged with domestic violence, we wouldn’t all be here having a trial, because he would have pled guilty, because he did that.’”
The beating of ‘Jane’ before a sexual encounter with a male escort was indeed part of the prostitution-related offenses, Subramanian said.
“’This highlights a disregard for the rule of law and the propensity for violence’, [the Judge] said. […] ‘Having conceded the defendant’s propensity for violence in this way, it is impossible for the defendant to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that he poses no danger to any other person or the community’, the judge said.”
The defense team say that Diddy’s violence is ‘not part of the charges’, while the prosecution will argue that it is.
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