Jury to keep deliberating after deadlocking on most serious charge

The jury in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs will keep deliberating after reaching a partial verdict, but deadlocking on the most serious charge faced by the hip-hop mogul.

At the federal court in New York, the 12 jurors announced they had agreed on four of the five counts, but were unable to decide on the racketeering charge, which carries a possible life prison term.

The atmosphere was tense as the rapper sat with head bowed, hands folded in his lap. His lawyers occasionally put their arms around him. Deliberations will resume on Wednesday morning.

Mr Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to all five charges, including sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.

At around 16:30 EDT on Tuesday (20:30 GMT), the jury announced they had reached a verdict on four of the five counts, after two days of deliberations.

Judge Arun Subramanian heard arguments from both the prosecution and the defence on how to proceed, before urging the jurors to keep trying.

The prosecution urged the judge to use an Allen charge, which is a set of instructions given to a hung jury to press its members to reach a unanimous decision.

Allen charges are controversial, as some believe they can put undue pressure on juries, forcing them to change their stances or cave to peer pressure – especially when their opinion is in the minority.

The foreperson eventually sent a note to the judge saying the jury had finished for the day.

They will return on Wednesday, and could potentially continue on 3 July – when the court is normally closed ahead of the 4 July public holiday.

Over the past two months, the jury has heard from 34 witnesses, including ex-girlfriends, former employees of Mr Combs, male escorts and federal agents.

The defendant, who has also gone by the names Puffy, Puff Daddy, P Diddy, Love, and Brother Love, is a well-known figure in the music industry.

In 2023, he released his fifth record The Love Album: Off The Grid and earned his first solo nomination at the Grammy awards. He also was named a Global Icon at the MTV Awards.