July 3, 2025 • 5 mins
Peter Charalambous talks to Mendte in the Morning about the verdict in the trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and the reaction in the courtroom upon hearing the news.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, now, let's talk with Peter Haralambus, who Peter Yesterday.
(00:04):
He is the ABC News investigative reporter in New York. Peter, Yesterday,
you nailed it. You kept talking about that it's not
possible to find him guilty on the four other charges
because they're all predicate charges for the racketeering charge. So
something had to give, and it certainly did. It was
I guess it wasn't that surprising to you because you
(00:25):
seem to see that coming.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
You know. I gotta say, though, I was a bit
shocked hearing it read in real I think, you know,
a lot of people have talked about a lot of
legal nils talked about this possibility from the start, that
you know, the racketeering was a bit of a stretch
and that perhaps the jury just kind of only takes
those those two lesser counts to prostitution charges because they're
kind of the obvious ones. Those are the low hanging fruit.
(00:49):
And that's basically what we saw just yesterday really a
roller coaster ride for Sean Combs. You saw him basically
drop to his knees in open court praying and then
getting around the applause from the gallery. He went from
that kind of epic high to a bit of a
low in the afternoon when he was denied bail and
told he had to report back to prison. While the
(01:11):
way it's his sentencing, nevertheless, he seems like he's relieved.
We could hear him in the gallery gallery basically telling
his family baby, I'm coming home. He sees this as
a total win.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, I think it was. I think it was a
total win for him, even though he's going to spend
probably a couple of years in jail. I know that
the prostitution is asking for five what's the defense asking
for two?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, the defense has suggested that the guidelines are around
two years, and then they'd subtract ten months. He's already
spent that in prison. They did a bit of victory
lap yesterday. I looked up some statistics and they were
kind of talking about how unlikely it is that beat
the Southern District of New York on racketeering conspiracy charges,
(01:57):
and they're right. Federal prosecutors generally, according to statistics, between
the last five years, win ninety seven percent of racketeering
cases that they that they charge. So this is really
one of the first instances I can think of in
which a defense team has beat those rico charges, which
is kind of a big win for them. That's something
they talked about at a press conference outside.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Court, and it validates them not getting up and I
know they did. They offered a defense in the cross examinations,
but it still was kind of unusual that they did
just end and didn't take the time to give more
of a defense. They just after the prosecution rested. Dave rested.
I think a lot of people thought, uh, oh, that's
(02:36):
taking a chance. But this validates it, doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, I think that's exactly right. I mean, when I
saw that defense, and then when I heard their closing statement,
it seemed like the kind of thing that was that
wasn't necessarily aiming for an acquittal, but kind of aiming
towards one two jurors who might be skeptical the kind
of closing statement and defense case that's kind of aimed
at getting a hung jury, not necessarily a full acquittal.
But it seems like they're that you completely worked here,
(03:01):
and that the jury in this case effectually rejected the
prosecution theory in its entirety. They rejected the idea that
this was coercive. They rejected the idea that this was
sex trafficking. They rejected the idea that this was a
racketeering conspiracy and kind of this organized criminal enterprise. The
only thing that they found was that Sean Combs basically
(03:21):
transported people consensually over state lines for the purposes of sex.
That's basically all you need to do to prove those
prostitution counts. And that's all they got him on.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
You know, even though we saw what an awful person
he is, and we saw some horrific acts, and some
horrific acts were described. He is now a first time offender,
So you would think the judge would go low on
the jail sentence, wouldn't you.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, on one hand, you're right on that he is
a first time offender. He doesn't get that enhancement when
it comes to the sentencing that a prior criminal would get.
But the judge kind of gave some indication of how
he might look at this during yesterday's bail hearing. This
was around five o'clock, where he was debating whether or
not to release Combs before his sentencing, and the judge
(04:10):
kind of blamed the defense for the reason why Combs
is still in prison, you know, as you well remember
their theory. Their argument was that Shun Combs was a
violent person, that he engaged in domestic violence. That basically
what you saw on that video where Combs is beating
Caffie Ventura is domestic violence. And they didn't shy from that.
(04:30):
They leaned into it. They acknowledged it was what it was,
but they suggested that isn't you know, sex trafficking, That
isn't racket here and conspiracy, and that strategy worked completely,
it seems like when it came to the defense trying
to convince the jury, but the judge basically pointed to
that exact argument and said, well, your client is a
propensity for violence. I have no reason just to release
(04:52):
him on bail given the fact that he've openly admitted
that throughout this trial.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
I get that, And I was bringing up the point
that I thought he would still get he'd just get
the two years because he's a first time offender, and
you came back with that, which was, you know, compelling.
Does that mean you think he's going to get more
than two years?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I could see the based on how the judge phrased
things yesterday, I could see him deciding to kind of
punish him a bit more than that. I think one
thing to consider with federal sentencing is that, you know,
while the judge can't consider the allegations for the counts
on which he was quitted, he can't consider the domestic
violence generally. So you know, the government has suggested he
(05:32):
should get four to five years. They've suggested that could
go upward based on how the judge kind of slammed
the Combs for his domestic this domestic violence. I could
see him kind of siding with the prosecutors and asking
for a bit more time and give it a bit
more time. Excuse me.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Peter harral Ambu's ABC News investigative reporter. Have a great weekend.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Have a great weekend, Larry. Take care
All right, now, let's talk with Peter Haralambus, who Peter Yesterday.
(00:04):
He is the ABC News investigative reporter in New York. Peter, Yesterday,
you nailed it. You kept talking about that it's not
possible to find him guilty on the four other charges
because they're all predicate charges for the racketeering charge. So
something had to give, and it certainly did. It was
I guess it wasn't that surprising to you because you
(00:25):
seem to see that coming.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
You know. I gotta say, though, I was a bit
shocked hearing it read in real I think, you know,
a lot of people have talked about a lot of
legal nils talked about this possibility from the start, that
you know, the racketeering was a bit of a stretch
and that perhaps the jury just kind of only takes
those those two lesser counts to prostitution charges because they're
kind of the obvious ones. Those are the low hanging fruit.
(00:49):
And that's basically what we saw just yesterday really a
roller coaster ride for Sean Combs. You saw him basically
drop to his knees in open court praying and then
getting around the applause from the gallery. He went from
that kind of epic high to a bit of a
low in the afternoon when he was denied bail and
told he had to report back to prison. While the
(01:11):
way it's his sentencing, nevertheless, he seems like he's relieved.
We could hear him in the gallery gallery basically telling
his family baby, I'm coming home. He sees this as
a total win.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, I think it was. I think it was a
total win for him, even though he's going to spend
probably a couple of years in jail. I know that
the prostitution is asking for five what's the defense asking
for two?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, the defense has suggested that the guidelines are around
two years, and then they'd subtract ten months. He's already
spent that in prison. They did a bit of victory
lap yesterday. I looked up some statistics and they were
kind of talking about how unlikely it is that beat
the Southern District of New York on racketeering conspiracy charges,
(01:57):
and they're right. Federal prosecutors generally, according to statistics, between
the last five years, win ninety seven percent of racketeering
cases that they that they charge. So this is really
one of the first instances I can think of in
which a defense team has beat those rico charges, which
is kind of a big win for them. That's something
they talked about at a press conference outside.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Court, and it validates them not getting up and I
know they did. They offered a defense in the cross examinations,
but it still was kind of unusual that they did
just end and didn't take the time to give more
of a defense. They just after the prosecution rested. Dave rested.
I think a lot of people thought, uh, oh, that's
(02:36):
taking a chance. But this validates it, doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Yeah, I think that's exactly right. I mean, when I
saw that defense, and then when I heard their closing statement,
it seemed like the kind of thing that was that
wasn't necessarily aiming for an acquittal, but kind of aiming
towards one two jurors who might be skeptical the kind
of closing statement and defense case that's kind of aimed
at getting a hung jury, not necessarily a full acquittal.
But it seems like they're that you completely worked here,
(03:01):
and that the jury in this case effectually rejected the
prosecution theory in its entirety. They rejected the idea that
this was coercive. They rejected the idea that this was
sex trafficking. They rejected the idea that this was a
racketeering conspiracy and kind of this organized criminal enterprise. The
only thing that they found was that Sean Combs basically
(03:21):
transported people consensually over state lines for the purposes of sex.
That's basically all you need to do to prove those
prostitution counts. And that's all they got him on.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
You know, even though we saw what an awful person
he is, and we saw some horrific acts, and some
horrific acts were described. He is now a first time offender,
So you would think the judge would go low on
the jail sentence, wouldn't you.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, on one hand, you're right on that he is
a first time offender. He doesn't get that enhancement when
it comes to the sentencing that a prior criminal would get.
But the judge kind of gave some indication of how
he might look at this during yesterday's bail hearing. This
was around five o'clock, where he was debating whether or
not to release Combs before his sentencing, and the judge
(04:10):
kind of blamed the defense for the reason why Combs
is still in prison, you know, as you well remember
their theory. Their argument was that Shun Combs was a
violent person, that he engaged in domestic violence. That basically
what you saw on that video where Combs is beating
Caffie Ventura is domestic violence. And they didn't shy from that.
(04:30):
They leaned into it. They acknowledged it was what it was,
but they suggested that isn't you know, sex trafficking, That
isn't racket here and conspiracy, and that strategy worked completely,
it seems like when it came to the defense trying
to convince the jury, but the judge basically pointed to
that exact argument and said, well, your client is a
propensity for violence. I have no reason just to release
(04:52):
him on bail given the fact that he've openly admitted
that throughout this trial.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
I get that, And I was bringing up the point
that I thought he would still get he'd just get
the two years because he's a first time offender, and
you came back with that, which was, you know, compelling.
Does that mean you think he's going to get more
than two years?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I could see the based on how the judge phrased
things yesterday, I could see him deciding to kind of
punish him a bit more than that. I think one
thing to consider with federal sentencing is that, you know,
while the judge can't consider the allegations for the counts
on which he was quitted, he can't consider the domestic
violence generally. So you know, the government has suggested he
(05:32):
should get four to five years. They've suggested that could
go upward based on how the judge kind of slammed
the Combs for his domestic this domestic violence. I could
see him kind of siding with the prosecutors and asking
for a bit more time and give it a bit
more time. Excuse me.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Peter harral Ambu's ABC News investigative reporter. Have a great weekend.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Have a great weekend, Larry. Take care
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