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Juror No. 2: A 69-year-old actor and massage therapist from Manhattan who digs classical music and enjoys biking and hiking.
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Juror No. 5: A 31-year-old investment analyst also from Manhattan who likes sports and video games.
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Juror No. 25: A 51-year-old guy with a Ph.D. in molecular biology and neuroscience, who listens to classical music and is into art and cooking.
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Juror No. 28: A 30-year-old deli clerk from the Bronx who’s into hip-hop and reggaeton, plus she loves reading and gaming.
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Juror No. 55: A 42-year-old nursing home aide from Manhattan who enjoys cooking and watching Disney movies.
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Juror No. 58: A 41-year-old from the Bronx working in communications, who likes reggaeton and ‘90s hip-hop, and is all about fantasy football.
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Additional jurors round out the panel with a wide range of experiences and interests:
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Juror No. 75: A 68-year-old retired banker from Westchester County who enjoys Indian music and plays cricket and volleyball.
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Juror No. 116: A 68-year-old retired telecommunications worker, also from Westchester County. He listens to rock music and spends his free time bowling and golfing.
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Juror No. 160: A 43-year-old female physician assistant from Westchester County. She listens to R&B and hip-hop and enjoys dancing.
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Juror No. 184: A 39-year-old male social worker from the Bronx who listens to R&B and West African pop music and is a sports fan.
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Juror No. 201: A 67-year-old male logistics analyst from Westchester County. His hobbies include woodworking and bike riding.
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Juror No. 217: A 74-year-old female treatment coordinator from Manhattan who enjoys classical music and traveling.
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There are more jurors with their own unique backgrounds: for instance, a retired banker from Westchester who enjoys Indian music and plays cricket, another retired telecommunications worker who loves rock music and bowling, and a physician assistant who enjoys dancing.
On Monday, they finally picked a jury for Sean “Diddy” Combs’ federal trial regarding sex trafficking. It’s a 12-member jury made up of eight guys and four women, and they’re ready to kick things off, with opening statements expected to start soon. This whole process took about a week of questioning to get to this point, and they had 45 candidates to choose from.
The jurors are aged between 30 and 74, coming from all over New York City—places like Manhattan, the Bronx, and even Westchester County. They have all kinds of jobs too; we’ve got an investment analyst, a physician assistant, a massage therapist, and a deli clerk, just to name a few.
Now, with Diddy being a huge name in the music world for over three decades, this trial has been in the spotlight, especially after his arrest back in September.
During the jury selection, they asked the jurors about their interests and music tastes. A bunch of them in their 30s and 40s reported they listen to hip-hop and R&B, genres that Diddy is known for.
A few jurors even mentioned being aware of some important evidence—a 2016 video that shows Combs allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Cassie, in a hotel hallway in Los Angeles.
Now the jury’s got the job of figuring out if Combs is guilty of five charges: one charge of racketeering conspiracy, two for sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and two for crossing state lines for prostitution. He’s pleaded not guilty.
Here’s a little about some of the jurors:
They even picked six alternate jurors—four men and two women, aged between 24 and 71. Earlier in the day, there were some debates about which potential jurors to kick out. Diddy’s defense lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, pointed out that it seemed like the prosecution was unfairly striking out Black jurors, hinting at a potential pattern of racial bias, which would go against constitutional rights. The prosecutors defended their choices, explaining that some jurors had shown favoritism towards people involved in the case or were critical of the police.
