Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi, everyone, welcome the Mother Knows Death. Today we're going
to do a quick summary of the Diddy verdict with
our friend Lauren Conlin. Lauren is host of Pop Crime
TV and Primetime Crime and has been in court every
day for seven weeks reporting on the Didty trial. Hi, Lauren,
welcome back to Mother Knows Death. We know that you've
been at the Ditty trial every single day, so you
(00:26):
are the first person we wanted to hear from. Tell
Us tell us everything. What are you thinking? What do
you think about these charges?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
My gosh. Well, I mean, let's just start with the
fact that yesterday, day two of deliberations, it was crazy
when the jury sent a note around four pm saying
that they were unanimous on four charges and hung on one.
I mean, we were all in shock because there was
(00:54):
a lot of evidence here. There was seven weeks of testimony,
and it's like they were able to get through these
deliberations rather quickly, especially because you know, you've got a
racketeering charge and that's very complicated. However, that was the
charge that they were hung up on. Now fast forward
(01:15):
to this morning. I actually was in line with a
juror I kind of noticed her out of the corner
of my eye around eight p fifty going into the courthouse,
and I was like, oh, okay, we're probably not going
to get a vertage for a really long time. They've
got to, you know, soar through everything because I forget
the word they used, but they they used the word
I misplaced my notebook. I think I was so happy
(01:38):
that it was over I threw it. Honestly, literally, I
was so happy. But they used the word like they
basically had just opinions on each side that nobody was
willing to budge on. So the fact that a jury
note came through at nine fifty two and it said
that they had had reached a verdict, we were like,
what it was? It was a moment. I mean, it
(02:02):
got very somber in the courtroom before nine am. Diddy
had prayed with his family. All of his children were
there except for his baby daughter. He had his baby
mama was there except for Misa Hilton. So Dana Tran
was there as well as Sarah Chapman, and I mean,
I feel like it was just you could hear a
(02:24):
pin drop when the jury came in and as soon
as the four person read not guilty on racketeering. I
mean there were gasps. It was like oh. And then
obviously from Diddy's side, they were very excited. And then
once we heard I think the other charge that was
kind of up in the air that people thought it
could go either way was the trafficking of Cassie, And
(02:47):
when that was not guilty, I mean, people were very emotional,
very shocked, and I mean it was gosh did he
had his head in his hands, he was thanking the jury,
he was squeezing Tenny Garrigo his hands, and Mark Agniffilo
immediately stood up and was just like, okay, you're on her.
My client has been acquitted on the most serious of charges.
(03:09):
And sorry, I should probably say he was convicted on
the Two Man Act violations, and that is transportation to
engage in prostitution. I feel like the jury really had
no choice but to convict him on those because they
saw statements, financial statements, They saw payments of escorts, they
saw flights that were booked by travel agents for these escorts.
(03:32):
So there was really it was like, very very tangible
this evidence. So we were not surprised overall at that conviction.
But anyway, Mark Agnifilow stands up and he's like, my
client has been acquitted on the most serious of charges.
He should be released on a million dollars bail, Like
he should go home today to await sentencing. And Maureen Komi,
(03:54):
I mean, it was really clear that she did not
take this as a loss. She stands up and she's like, oh, no,
you're honor. These are still very serious charges and let's
not forget the conduct surrounding these convictions. There was lots
of violence, lots of drug use. So you know, we're
going to request that he stays in federal jail. And
(04:14):
she basically said, they want the maximum sentence here, which
is like twenty years. I mean, he's not getting that.
I personally feel like he would get a maximum two
years per charge. Maybe again I'm speculating he'll get time served,
but I think that the twenty year maximum that goes
to if you're transporting minors. I have a feeling the
(04:36):
defense is going to cite a lot of case law
where some people even get probation for the Man Act violation,
and they have until actually they had until one to
submit these motions as to why he should be released
or not be released. And I think the judge will
make a decision today, and if he's released, he's going
to go back to two Star Island in Miami. But overall,
(04:59):
I think that, you know, we should obviously respect the
jury's decision because of the fact that you know, they
were going with what they saw in the courtroom. Evidence wise.
They were not going with, you know, what this guy
did in the past. The New York Club, New York
shooting in nineteen ninety nine, the quad shooting of Tupac,
(05:22):
the City College stampede, none of that comes into play.
What the jury really saw, I think was questionable charges
in terms of like, he is not on trial for
being a scumbag woman beater. He is on trial for
sex trafficking and did I guess it's like you can
(05:46):
look at it and see that, yes, it did meet
the charges if you're going by the force, fraud, and coercion.
I think, yes, there were instances where he forced Cassie
and Jane on different maybe you know, different occasions through
coercion to participate. But also, you know, we saw the
other side of it as well, which is them saying
(06:09):
that they wanted to be there, if they meant it
or they didn't mean it. You know, we can't speak
to their state of mind, but this is what the
jury saw. And I think maybe they were using common
sense in terms of like, Okay, this man is horrible,
but what we saw here is him participating in these
sexual acts behind closed doors, you know, with his significant other.
(06:32):
And I think it was really hard for them to
believe in this, I guess criminal enterprise. When a lot
of his employees are IVY League educated when they were
setting up the hotel room for Cassie and for Jane,
did they think they were committing federal crimes? No? And
I think you know to that, neither did Sean Colmes
(06:53):
when he was having them participate in these freak offs.
And look, men are stupid. If we tell them one
thing there, they're gonna say. You know, if we're like, ooh,
we really want it, they're gonna believe us that we
want it. So again, I think that my heart goes
out to all survivors of domestic violence and all survivors
of sex trafficking right now, because they must feel horrible
(07:14):
about this verdict. However, I think that just being in
the courtroom every day, the government's case wasn't the best
They didn't have the best witnesses besides Cassie and my opinion,
and yeah, and here we are. And I do apologize
if that commentary upsets anybody. But when you know, when
your your biggest piece of evidence is also baby oil,
(07:36):
and how that affects interstate commerce' that's a concern as
well when we're dealing with a federal case.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
It's crazy that they even brought it, honestly, if they
didn't have stronger evidence, because I would think if you
were going to put, you know, put someone of this
significance on trial, you better have something to get them,
especially he seems like he's powerful, and honestly, like Cassie
should be a little scared right now, I would think.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
I don't think so. I mean, I think, you know,
I think a lot of us going into this case,
we were, like the media sensationalized so much. And same
with the civil suits. And what I saw on the
stand is people who were civilly suing him, who were
on the spot, and they got called out because they
admitted that a lot of what was on their lawsuit
(08:25):
was wrong or exaggerated. I mean, Brianna Bonglin actually said
she had to fire her attorney because he added that
Diddy sexually assaulted her on the balcony before he dangled
her over, and she had to clarify that he didn't
assault her. He lifted her up and maybe like his
hands were near her chest when he lifted her up
or what not saying you know, and again I'm not saying, oh,
(08:46):
it's so acceptable that he dangled her off a balcony.
I'm just saying she was up there and had to say, yeah,
that didn't happen. Same with Don Richard, she had to
clarify things about her civil suit, and same with Cassie,
things that were not exactly accurate. So I think the
media made us think, like, you know, we were going
to see miners, we were going to see drugs in
the baby oil, we were going to see celebrity sex tapes.
(09:08):
And it was nothing like that. Nothing, I mean. So,
and again the fact that the media dubbed one of
his assistants a drug mule after he was caught with
pointz seven grams of cocaine in a Miami airport last year.
It's like this guy was an assistant, he was cleaning
up Diddy's room and he actually just kind of took
(09:30):
this bag of you know, the extra cookie found, put
it in his pocket and forgot about it. Did he
didn't ask him to take it, you know, he didn't
it just and all of a sudden, the media dubs
him a drug mule. And this kid like he was
on the honor roll at Syracuse, he played D one basketball,
He comes from a wealthy family, and I'm just like, yeah,
(09:50):
he's not a drug mule. This is not And not
that it matters if you come from a wealthy family,
but you guys know what I'm I'm saying. I'm getting
at here. He just it wasn't what the media told
us it should be. So I think, yeah, a lot
of people are so upset by this verdict, and I
completely understand because he's not a good guy. But you
look at these charges and you got to sit back
(10:12):
and say, how was this a federal case when you know,
you just you've got a lot of reasonable doubt coming
through when the text messages in, you know, in the
emails and the actions, and even you know in Cassie's
own words that she still has love for the past.
And I feel for her though, I really do. I mean,
(10:32):
she she was so brave to, you know, to go
on the stand and relive that share all of these
text messages that are just so tough. You know, when
you're nineteen twenty twenty one years old, you say some
things and it's it's just it's embarrassing, and she's just
such a warrior.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
It's an interesting point you bring up, because we had
Cheryl on last night actually, and we were talking about
the possibility of the jurors being afraid to convict him
because in our mind, I mean, you were in the courtroom,
so now from everything you're explaining, it's coming across it,
he wasn't quite as intimidating as the media was portraying.
So on our end, we're seeing it as maybe people
(11:12):
are scared to give him that guilty conviction because they're
scared of what's going to happen to them after.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
I feel like the coverage of this case by the
mainstream media, I mean some days I wondered if I
was in the same courtroom as some of these outlets.
And by the way, sometimes these outlets would have these
reports and they weren't even inside the courtroom. I mean
one outlet said he was dancing to the freak offs
when he had the headphones on, and I'm like, no,
he wasn't. Another creator said he turned around and said
(11:42):
to her, I know you, and I was like, that
never happened. He would be in so much trouble if
he turned around and looked someone a member of the press,
dead in the eye and said I know you, and
I'm just like what. So I feel like a lot
of these headlines were so exaggerated, and the way that
they were interpreting faces he made, or head nods that
(12:04):
he did when he would agree with his attorneys, it
just it got completely blown out of proportion. And understand
that I'm not trying to help anybody out. I reported
on this case from a completely unbiased perspective. However, going
into it, I thought he was guilty of everything, and
I thought he was, you know, not a piece of crap.
(12:24):
And I still think the latter. However, when you were
weighing what you see and hear inside the courtroom walls,
it's just much different than what you know outside of it.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Well, the media was using to their advantage that there
were no cameras allowed in the courtroom, because really you
could say whatever you want, you know, it just they
just throw out whatever just to get clicks. They don't
really care. They'll they won't even retract it, you know.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Yeah, and this jury wasn't an animated jury. They really
didn't give a ton of reaction. But you know when
they watched the free off videos and everyone's asking me
about the juror, you know, she kind of went like this,
but it's like all of a sudden, it's like she
went like this, you know, yeah, so dramatic, putting her
hands up over her head. Just it wasn't like that.
They were very stoic throughout most of the trial, with
(13:15):
a few of them, you know, showing slight reactions, but
nothing to the degree that I had seen people portray.
Let me tell you, all.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Right, well awesome, thank you so much for coming on.
We know that you have a lot to do because
this case has been just you've covered it so awesome,
and thanks so much for sharing this with us. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
I love you guys so much. Let's do a proper
episode soon, Yes, yes, totally. Thank you. Miss you guys,
miss you, love you, say you soon.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Thank you for listening to mother nos death. As a reminder,
my training is as a pathologists assistant. I have a
master's level education and specialize in anatomy and pathol education.
I am not a doctor and I have not diagnosed
or treated anyone dead or alive without the assistance of
a licensed medical doctor. This show, my website, and social
(14:13):
media accounts are designed to educate and inform people based
on my experience working in pathology, so they can make
healthier decisions regarding their life and well being. Always remember
that science is changing every day, and the opinions expressed
in this episode are based on my knowledge of those
subjects at the time of publication. If you are having
(14:35):
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