Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani predicts Sean “Diddy” Combs will be convicted on at least two counts in his federal trial, but sex trafficking won’t be one of them.
The jury began deliberating Monday, June 30, in Manhattan on the music mogul’s fate after weeks of testimony on charges of alleged transportation to engage in prostitution, sex trafficking, and racketeering conspiracy. He could face up to life in prison if convicted on all counts.
Rahmani, who is president and co-founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers in Los Angeles, recently won a $4.25 million judgment against rapper Soulja Boy in a sexual assault case.
Now a victims’ rights advocate, the attorney said the prosecution had some “misses,” but there’s enough for the jury to come back with guilty verdicts on the prostitution and racketeering charges against Combs.
“I think we can get to a conviction without sex trafficking. We can get there through drugs. We can get there through bribery. We can get there through arson. We get the extortion, obstruction,” Rahmani said during an exclusive interview with Urban Hollywood 411. “I have concerns about consent when it comes to the sexual activity.”
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Rahmani noted that there were flaws in the testimony of Combs’ former girlfriends — Cassie Ventura and a woman using the pseudonym “Jane Doe.”
“If those women were abused, why did they stay with their abuser?” he said, noting that the defense raised the same question in another high-profile case.
“I think it’s part of the psychology of abuse, but that question resonates with a lot of jurors, and that’s something that the defense used successfully very recently in another case, and that’s the Harvey Weinstein retrial,” he explained. “Three victims [but] the government was only able to secure a conviction for one of those three victims, because the victims continued to maintain a relationship with Harvey Weinstein.”
Rahmani contends that even if jurors decide Diddy’s alleged victims who testified against him were not sex trafficked, the government did prove the arson and kidnapping allegations, which fall under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
“There’s all these other crimes that were committed. Kid Cudi’s Porsche didn’t catch on fire by itself…. [Diddy’s former assistant] Capricorn Clark was taken to an office every day for several days and wasn’t allowed to leave, right?” the attorney said.
That totality of evidence will lead to a racketeering conviction, he predicted. That charge alone can carry a life sentence and substantial fines, seized assets, and restitution to victims.
While others might disagree, Rahmani thought Diddy’s defense attorney Marc Agnifilo offered an effective closing argument and cast just enough doubt. He also called the attorney “kind of an icon in New York criminal defense.”
Agnifilo argued the mogul was a “swinger,” and his ex-girlfriends were “aggressive” and liked group sex.
Rahmani said despite the graphic testimony about Combs’ sex life, it is difficult to prove the mogul’s former girlfriends were coerced.
“I’m a former prosecutor. I believe the victims. But it’s hard to get 12 out of 12 [jurors] when you’re talking about sexual assault or sex trafficking,” he noted.
The videos of sex sessions Combs called “freak offs” or “hotel nights” played during the trial will be key, “if from a reasonable person, it seems like it is consent and it’s not rape, it’s resentment, regret, not sexual assault.”
He criticized the prosecution for what he called “mistakes.”
“I would have charged Kristina Khorram, ‘KK’ and D-Roc, the former chief of staff and security, respectively. They were actively involved in the drug trafficking, sex trafficking, bribery, arson,” Rahmani said.
Asked if the two will likely be charged later, he said it’s doubtful because another trial would be a “huge waste of resources” and traumatic for the alleged victims.
Anita Bennett contributed to this report.
Listen to the interview with attorney Neama Rahmani below:
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