Diddy is one step closer to learning his fate in a New York court after both the prosecution and defense rest their case.
The billionaire mogul speak in court for the first time since the trial started over a month ago. In court on Tuesday (June 24), Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs opted not to take the witness stand to defend himself.
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Diddy heaped praises unto the presiding judge, Judge Arun Subramanian, thanking him for doing a good job handling the high-profile case. The Bad Boy Records founder told the judge he is doing great.
“I’m doing great, your honor. I’ve been wanting to tell you thank you, you’re doing an excellent job,” Diddy told the judge, according to TMZ.
The judge later spoke, thanking Diddy for his comment, and again asked if she understood his decision not to take the witness stand. However, Diddy says he had discussed testifying with his legal team and ultimately decided against taking the stand.
Diddy’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, told the media before the trial that the rap mogul is eager to take the witness stand to tell his side of the story. Agnifilo stated that Diddy was eager to testify during the trial, but ultimately that didn’t happen.
Combs’ taking the stand was always a stretch, but some fans who have been following the case closely were hoping he would take the stand. However, that would be a major risk when it came to being cross-examined by federal prosecutors. During the latter part of the 8-week trial, prosecutors aired multiple of the rumored freak-offs tapes in court, some of which appears to left some members of the jurors stunned.
There were also bombshell testimonies from Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, one of his ex-girlfriends identified as Jane, who testified they had a freak-off months before his arrest in September last year, and his alleged ‘Drug Mule’ who reported receiving immunity to testify in the case.
The judge sent home jurors until Thursday of this week when they will be back in court to hear closing arguments.
Diddy is on trial on multiple charges including racketeering, kidnapping, and sex trafficking. If convicted, he could face decades in prison.