¶ Episode Intro and Verdict Day Tension
Barbing Barbu. we just got back home and i wanted to film this really quick so that i can edit it get it up in time and this is going to be a very short video this is not going to be like a normal rm episode but we just flew in from new york city where sean diddy combs was not guilty on all of his major charges. So he was facing five counts and we're going to get into all of that. But day three of jury deliberation was...
¶ Jury Deliberation, Notes, and Rogue Juror
I mean, this was the day the verdict came out. It was obviously like the most intense day thus far. I would say the first day of jury deliberation was very stressful. There was a lot of unknown energy. Nobody really knew which way it was going to go. People were reading very deep.
into the juror notes the jury sent back a few notes the first one being that there was a well okay the news media everyone's been calling it like a rogue juror like they get into the deliberation room they send out their first note It's a handwritten note by the jury foreman who is voted upon.
This is like the leader of the jury. They don't have much more power, but they sign off on all these notes. And they send in that note and it says that juror number 25 cannot follow instructions. And this becomes a whole ordeal. Everyone is like, what do you mean they cannot follow instructions?
instructions. Does that mean that they cannot follow instructions or they do not want to follow instructions? What does it mean? It got to the point where people like a lot of the members of the press were confused and wondering, is this person maybe. not able to comprehend certain parts of the English language that might be applicable to the law. And so they start digging into the jury selection process and they find out that this man is a PhD student.
scientist and so everyone's like okay that's clearly not the case so is it like a health thing do they have a medical emergency where they cannot follow the instructions people were thinking of everything because when you're in the dark and you all you get are these little snippets of notes you start spiraling and this is coming from
people from the press and the public. I can't imagine what it would be like to be on the prosecution team or the defense team or part of the defendant's family. It seems very intense. That's the first note. Then there's a few follow-up notes. One of them is asking about what drug distribution
means. Another one is asking for testimony transcripts from Cassie Ventura's testimony about the Intercontinental Hotel incident as well as a Cannes Film Festival incident. So these are the main notes that are coming in and people were thinking Okay, maybe it's going to be 4th of July weekend. Like it's going to be finished up on Wednesday afternoon. If it's not finished.
Thursday, Friday, we're out of court, so maybe the following Monday we'll get a verdict. And then Tuesday at the very end of the day, yesterday.
¶ Partial Verdict and Deadlock on RICO
A note comes in that they have found a verdict, a partial verdict, a verdict on four of the five counts, but they are deadlocked on count one, which is the RICO charge. Which is everything, life.
¶ Final Verdict Reached and Courtroom Mood
Yeah. They go home, they sleep it off. And this morning, a note comes in at 9.52 in the morning. The jurors came into the, they went to the jury room at nine o'clock in the morning. 52 minutes in. A note comes in and it reads, we have reached a verdict on all counts. The judge is reading this out. He's asking anything to address before we bring the jury out. So this just means the jury is going to come out. He's going to get it.
And they're going to read it out and the jurors are going to say, yes, this is what I voted. They're going to go one by one. Yes, this is what I voted. This is what I voted. Both parties respond no. Now, by this point. Jury deliberation day one, jury deliberation day two, Sean Combs and his family were not in the best of moods. Like they seem like they're one second away from a mental breakdown, all of them. It seems like the defendant or Sean Combs is comforting his mother nonstop.
It just seems like everybody is an emotional wreck, which is understandable, but it just felt like... A lot of people are speculating, do they know a little more that we don't know? Is there something in the legal process that we haven't gotten a whiff of yet and they see the signs that something is amiss before we see the signs?
¶ Reading the Not Guilty Verdicts
And he seems just as stressed when the jurors are led back in and they give their little slip to the judge who reads it for about 30 seconds. He gives it to the deputy who reads, Sean Combs for count one.
And now juror number five, the jury for men. This is like the leader of the group. This is like what they vote on. He's going to be the one that reads it out loud, their verdict. But he's like their spokesperson. I mean, he doesn't have like an extra vote or anything. He's just their spokesperson. He reads. Not guilty. This is the count that they were deadlocked on all day. This is the Rico charge. Not guilty.
Now, a lot of people in the press pews, in the public, I mean, all we could do is speculate all day for like the past two days. And there were speculations that perhaps he would be found guilty on two of the smaller charges, maybe not Rico because they were deadlocked on it. That maybe a lot of people were thinking that was going to be a hung jury. The Rico charge. And that it would have to be retried. But they come back not guilty. And you hear like a small gasp.
inside the courtroom from one of the family members but it's not even like that small i don't know if it's a small gasp i don't know if it was just so deadly silent it's unclear it's just like everyone is focused on all these little things As for sex trafficking for Cassandra Ventura, how do you find the defendant? Not guilty. Now at this point, one of the family and friends members of the two pews, they are like, yes!
like they're like yeah they're not screaming it it's more of a audible noise and it seems like everyone is breaking out into smiles over there everybody is like happily nodding even sean combs is like A little hesitant, but he seems like he's trying to look at the jury and see, because everything's going in his favor at this point. And that's like a charge that everyone thought is going to be guilty, right, Cassandra?
¶ Guilty Verdicts and Immediate Reactions
Everyone thought if he doesn't get Rico, he's gonna get sex trafficking of Cassie Ventura. Transportation for purposes of prostitution related to Cassandra Ventura? Guilty. There's no reaction. The deputy and the foreperson continue. As for sex trafficking of Jane, how do you find the defendant? Not guilty. Diddy, at this point, has now broken out into full smiles because those were the three biggest charges. So count one, count two, and count four.
So three is the transportation across state lines for prostitution. That's like a very, that's a very minor charge compared to everything else in his counts. The Rico charge. The sex trafficking charges, one against Cassie and one against Jane. These are his major charges. He was just found not guilty of his major charges. So everything else, it doesn't really matter. This is like a huge win. This is everything he probably wanted
A little short of getting acquitted of all the charges. Everybody is breaking out into smiles. All of his adult children, they brought, I mean, some of them brought their partners, their girlfriends. A lot of the mother of his children were there. I think the only person not there was his. youngest child who is an infant, obviously. Kenny Garagos is like tightly gripping Sean Combs' hand. They seem friendly. They seem close. Transportation for prostitution for Jane. Guilty.
As the foreperson is reading the verdict, looking exclusively towards the judge, the remaining 11 jurors are like just stone cold faces. Like you can't really read their expression. None of them were really looking at Diddy. They're just kind of listening and waiting. Meanwhile,
Diddy is like nodding at them, trying to get them to make eye contact with him. And he's like trying to mouth thank you almost. He does at one point. And it's a very interesting. I mean, it just the whole feeling of this verdict is. like an escalation to mass goosebumps i mean there's not like this every single charge that's read out
It felt more eerie. Everybody has goosebumps. And I don't mean eerie in like the negative sense of the word. It just felt strange. I think a lot of people had vastly different reactions. And I'm choosing not to use the word eerie because I think a lot of people were very happy.
with the verdict a lot of people were very unhappy with the verdict so to use eerie across the whole courtroom is odd it's just like a it's an indescribable sensation of a weird energy you just start feeling goosebumps the entire time you feel like your shit
even though this technically has nothing to do with you. Like this isn't your life. This isn't your family member's life, but it feels weird. I don't know if it's the energy that's rubbing off and the tension is just so high strung. I think at this point. All of the past two months have accumulated to this very moment.
From the angle that we are sitting on, you can't really see the prosecutors. So it's very hard to get a read of what they're thinking, how they're reacting. But I'm assuming that it was not a pleasant day for them. The defense team, on the other hand, Diddy is nodding.
empathetically at the jurors you know he's releasing his hand from tennies he's like putting it into prayers and saying thanks like mouthing thank you thank you silently to each of the jurors and the jurors are dismissed they're thanked let out of the room Nobody says anything.
¶ Defense Argues for Diddy's Release
And then at that point, the judge says that he is open to hear any applications. To which Mr. Agnifilo immediately stands up and is like, his family is here. He should be released. They say he is no longer charged with sex trafficking or...
racketeering. His plane has been chartered. It's in Maui. He does not have access to his plane. This is his first conviction and it's a prostitution offense. He should be released. So at this point, we still have to wait for sentencing, which might be a month out. And he's saying Mark Agnifilo is arguing he should be released so that he can come back for sentencing. There's no reason to keep him in jail.
He should be all on bail. Yes, that's what they're proposing. I believe they propose like a million dollar bond and a bunch of other things that they sent in a letter that's on the docket for this case. The government is opposing this. They're saying absolutely not. are going to seek that not only does he stay in jail before sentencing, but probably during sentencing they're going to go after maximum for these two charges, which is 10 years each.
he's not gonna get it but so they're proposing like 20 years yeah together yeah they're aggressively fighting back of like no absolutely not the judge says he needs some time to think about it they're going to send in their proposals and he's going to take everything into consideration He leaves the bench.
¶ Courtroom Celebration After Adjournment
and the court is temporarily adjourned. As everybody is standing for the judge as he walks off, Tenny puts her arm around Diddy's shoulder, gives him a squeeze. Diddy's chair gets pushed a little bit back, and he turns around to his family. He falls to his knees. He rests his elbows on the chair that he was just sitting at. So he's facing the gallery. He's facing the back of the courtroom. And he just shuts his eyes in like a prayer. And he's praying.
It seems like a really long time. I don't know if it's just the way that time works in a courtroom at these high tense moments. It felt like an eternity. It could have been three seconds. It could have been a minute. Mark Agnifilo is looking at him. He looks very pleased. Tenny has tears in her eyes. It appears that they're really close because Sean Combs was close with Mark Garagos. Her dad. Her dad, yeah. So she starts crying to the point where she does have to dab.
tissues on her eyes and all of his defense team, the attorneys, they're all giving each other hugs in the entire courtroom. It just kind of erupts into cheers. At this point, Judge Arun, Father Arun, is off the bench.
so it's not like they're doing this in his presence because that would be highly unlikely but i mean people are cheering people are clapping people are whooping it's like It's so dramatic and they're cheering as he's on his knees and he just slowly stands up from his knees very dramatically as if he's like...
rising from the ashes it feels very cinematic for what and it was just the weirdest moment and he starts hugging his defense team members he's cheering saying thank you i love you to his family who are clapping back yelling crying the defense
attorneys are like huddled together like they just won a championship and you just see a lot of the members of the public who are also in the courtroom they're erupting in cheers they're all excited you could literally feel the goosebumps even if you do not agree with the verdict There's something about the energy inside of that courtroom that it just feels strange. It's just like a lot of energy. So with that, court is adjourned for them to figure out.
if Diddy is going to be released on bond, if he is going to be technically a somewhat free man until sentencing. And even at sentencing, he still might be a free man if he gets no jail time.
¶ Intense Scene Outside the Courthouse
And when you walk out of this courtroom, it's not even just the energy in the courtroom, the energy outside the courthouse. Like if you thought it was strange the first week or two of trial, which was probably the most intense two weeks, it is crazy.
people outside chanting free puff there's people outside wearing matching t-shirts some of them read freako is not a rico oh yeah i saw that yeah that was given out by his um best friend right yeah so they're like wearing matching t-shirts there is one very famous TikToker who had taken his shirt off and people were rubbing baby oil on him. There are people live streaming at every like cross section of outside this courthouse. People are getting into fights.
Because at this point, it seems like a lot of the live streamers have split into two camps. One camp that believed that Diddy was going to be found guilty on all charges. One camp that was very pro-Diddy and wanted to, quote, free puff. So those have been almost like...
It's like a war outside the courthouse. Doug Wigder, Cassie's attorney is walking out. We're trying to get like videos of him. He's just like walking out. The press are running up to him. Donaldson, Nicole Westmoreland walk out at one point and they're not.
really saying much the attorneys are probably going to give a formal statement maybe around the time that this video goes up if not like right before this video goes up i'm trying to time it well but it's interesting so we're i mean they're gonna be happy if anyone is coming out of this a winner aside from diddy
It's going to be his defense team. There's fights still breaking out outside. And what's interesting is you would think that a lot of the public would be fighting between the pro Diddy supporters and the not supporters of Diddy. But a lot of it is actually people who support Diddy fighting each other. There's like one person who's screaming and upset and is like, these people weren't here every day that I was here supporting Diddy. So why are they suddenly showing up to support Diddy?
And a lot of people are just like, I think you need a job because this is crazy to be arguing about. They don't even know Diddy personally. So like what is happening outside the courthouse? It's literally just mayhem. It's chaos. Like it doesn't even make sense. I think we're still having a hard time comprehending anything that's just happened. And everyone's talking about what's going to happen next. So here's what we know.
¶ Analyzing the Verdict and Trial Outcome
He was not found guilty on Rico. He was not found guilty on any sex trafficking charge. He was found guilty on count three and five, which are the transportation for prostitution charges. They are a maximum of 10 years each. That's just a sentencing guideline. By no means does Father Arun have to adhere to that. He could give him time served with probation. He could give him...
Three years served concurrently, which means at the same time. So both charges three years, but he really only spends three years in prison. Because there's no minimum, like he...
could be walking out. He could get like just probation for five years. It's really all up to Father Arun at this point. Now, I'm sure he has a lot to take into consideration, like the fact that Deontay Nash and Cassie Ventura have both submitted letters to the judge judge today saying, hey, we don't feel safe if he is out on bail.
oh really they were saying we don't feel safe we don't think other people are going to feel safe i mean the judge has a lot to take into consideration before he figures out what to do also there is this thing where if he does let diddy out on bond there is a speculation that his attorney are going to just drown the court with more emotion so that they can push sentencing and then just they're just going to try to lag it which is going to be a big headache
By this point, I mean, yes, he was found guilty on two charges, but this is probably the best outcome that he could have gotten from this case. I think a lot of people were surprised, and I think we're still having a hard time digesting. everything that's happened.
By the time that this video goes up, we will probably know if he's gonna get out on bond or not. I'm gonna leave it in the pinned comment, but I don't really know. I feel like I need to conclude this entire video with some sort of feeling or thoughts or opinions.
And I don't really have ones that are going to sound new and introspective and fresh. I think the whole team and I have just been wrapping our minds around it. The verdict was surprising, but unsurprising at the same time. I think that we had a lot of...
faith in the feds I will say that throughout the moments there were times throughout this entire trial we would come home after a long court day and there would be moments where I would say what just happened and I think I mentioned it very briefly in a few episodes where I was like
When I'm there, I see the energy in the courtroom. I see the jurors' responses to a lot of these questions. I could be mis... interpreting their facial expressions i feel like the defense is so great at controlling the narrative controlling the emotions inside the courtroom that i walk out and i'm like what just happened i read the transcripts and i'm like no no no the
government knows what they're doing because this makes sense on the transcript everything is here like the coercion i can see it i can feel it to me personally in my opinion it's there right but i think that And we would try to comfort each other. Like the team would be like, no, no, no. But the feds have such a crazy conviction, right? Like they know what they're doing. They're so capable, which they are. But there were a lot of times where we were trying to wrap our heads around.
the fact that the defense team came off incredibly charismatic and i know that maybe to people that haven't been inside of even this specific courtroom or like any courtroom maybe it means nothing like maybe this would have meant nothing to me prior to this trial
being there in person they come off charismatic and i know a lot of people are gonna be like okay well he's still a criminal like i still don't like diddy what is his attorney's charisma have anything to do with it but when you spend eight nine hours in a cramped
courtroom with the same 20 people all day every day I'm sure that the jurors care about who's likable yeah I think like for me you know we've been talking about this for months every time you're talking about these lawyers and then their body language the way they talk the way they
the way the juror responds to it that i feel like that carries so a much bigger weight than even we anticipated even though every day you come home you're like oh i saw this person smirking i saw they reacted this way i don't know i think jurors really liked it i think the jurors really like what they said and then we're like but are they gonna ignore all the evidence and this and that the attorneys that diddy hired i mean i guess they they want the jurors over
Yeah, because I don't think it was him that won the jurors over. I think that, I think they did an exceptional job at what they were supposed to do, which is win the jury over. I think the prosecutors probably could have done a better job at winning the jurors over. I think that a lot of times during their direct examinations of very crucial witnesses such as Cassie and Jane, I do know that Jane is a bit more of a contentious.
witness as a lot of people even on the internet are having these very lengthy debates about whether or not it was sex trafficking because for Jane she was 35 years old when she met Sean Combs she had a child and the main coercion aspect that the government is trying to tell the jurors is that she was obsessed. She was in love with him. And additionally, he was paying for the house.
Now, I think a lot of people online were like, well, she can move out. She's 35. She can just get a job. And like she can't be that lovestruck if she's a mom. Like she needs to think about her kid. Like people were having these types of debates online about Jane. However, for Cassie, I think a lot of people.
online were expecting a guilty verdict for the sex trafficking of cassie ventura she was 18 when she met him she was signed to like a 10 album record deal with his record label there was so much violence throughout their relationship that could easily factor into the forced fraud or coercion that
A lot of people were taken aback that this was a not guilty verdict. And ultimately, it just came down to the jurors believed unanimously that Cassie wanted these freak-offs, that she consented to this, that she was a willing participant. Now, if I were in a jurors position, would I have thought that? No.
But I wasn't. I'm not on the jury. And that's just how our justice system works, unfortunately, whether we like it or not. So whether people agree with this verdict online or not doesn't really change as much because the jurors still just did. what the jurors did yeah and you know like another thing we notice is like every time you're talking about the way Didi's attorney you know even their closing statement
The difference between the prosecutor's closing statement versus Diddy's team's closing statement is totally different, right? Diddy's team is super casual. They're just being like, you know, we're not even getting to all the nitty gritties. You know, this is all about a love story.
blah blah blah and whatever it is that delivery worked i think the problem is with a case like this um And I don't mean to say everyone and I don't mean to say us or you guys as an audience, but I think with maybe an older jury, they were a little bit older than maybe you and I might be on this jury pool with a lot of men. on the jury pool, I would say that- Eight men, right? Yeah, with eight men out of 12 jurors. There was a lot, I think a lot of it came down to emotion.
I think a lot of it felt like it could be spun both ways. I don't think it was a he said she said case. I think there was a lot of evidence. pointing at least me in my opinion towards sex trafficking of at least Cassie Ventura, right? But I think that a lot of people felt it was a he said, she said. And in these situations, I feel like emotion always wins. And the defense...
They came with the emotions. Every cross-examination would be where you felt the most emotion, whether it be positive or negative towards the witness. The direct examinations... It was very few and far in between. Like they, they examined Cassie Ventura for so many days. The prosecution did. And there were not many palpably emotional moments in the courtroom. I think on paper, the words were emotional. I think on the transcript, the words were emotional, but they came out.
The way that the prosecutor would ask the questions was very flat and monotone. It just didn't... So would you say like the star team of Diddy's did their job? Yeah, and I think that... Yeah, I just feel bad for the witnesses Yeah
I feel bad for the witnesses. I think it's just another reminder that we still live in a world where I think a lot of people need a perfect victim and you're just not going to get that in most cases. And I think that's very depressing to find out through this trial. I think people have a hard...
time understanding that victims can be multifaceted i also think it's very interesting the way that people have been discussing the domestic violence of this case i know that's not a charge and that's almost become the focal point of like well he wasn't charged with domestic violence
But it is part of the coercion aspect. And I think it's interesting that more people have upset and very loud feelings about Jane wanting a Chanel bag and... cassie wanting a lifestyle versus him being a violent abuser and i think that's a very interesting juxtaposition that's been happening online of like people are saying well he's just a domestic violence abuser, and he can get help for that.
But they make it seem like Cassie receiving money or Jane wanting a Chanel bag is some sort of fatal crime, some sort of fatal personality flaw that cannot be defended. It's just very interesting the way that...
¶ Public Reactions and Future Steps
people have been comparing those two elements of this case. Now, there have been lots of speculations online and rumors mainly that Diddy has bought out some of the jurors that are possibly being paid. One comment reads,
obvious one of the jurors took the payoff in order to cause a mistrial it's so transparent that it's actually ridiculous the only reason the jury is hung is because the juror thought money was more important than actual justice so this was when they were deadlocked on the rico charge
However looking back at the timeline of how I mean, unless he paid off all of them, which is so highly unlikely, pretty much impossible and not proven and completely a baseless allegation and internet rumor, there's just no way that they would have come back with a not guilty verdict. the major charges in the time that they did. Because within like a day and a half, they already decided on the sex trafficking charges and they were just stuck on RICO.
that's why we also like we're looking back right yesterday there were deadlocked on Rico we thought maybe like I don't know seven of them thinks he's guilty and then maybe five of them think he's not But now looking back, it seems like majority thinks he's not guilty. And there was a few thinks he is guilty. Yeah.
But I do think that these comments about him purchasing or buying off jurors is very interesting and very depressing in the sense of like, that's how little faith we have in our justice system. And I think it's completely accurate. So like, while I do think it's just a rumor. it pertains to this case, it's kind of sad. I felt like a lot of people overestimated what the feds were gonna do, what the government was gonna come in with, what the prosecutors were gonna be able to accomplish.
And I don't know if this is accurate, but I felt like the prosecutors completely overestimated the jury. I feel like because maybe the prosecutors are a little bit on the younger end. I don't know. Maybe they're on TikTok. Maybe they're watching the same things you and I are watching. And maybe.
we feel like, hey, you know, consent is complicated, but it's very clear when someone is feeling coerced. Like they, even if they send text messages, like I love it. Like you can tell through other inferences that they clearly don't. love it. And I think maybe they expected that from the jury because I don't think that they did the best job at explaining how it was coercion over and over again in a way that felt emotionally moving perhaps to that jury.
Whereas I think the defense, they were pulling out excuses that were used decades ago. This is a love story. They both wanted it. They just like to be having fun in the bedroom. The government doesn't belong in the bedroom. These are all things that we get icked out by because we've heard them decades ago and we're like, how does this still work today in the big old year of 2025?
But it did end up working. But ultimately, that is where we are with the case. It's very clear who the winners are in this. It's Diddy, and it's his defense team. Brian Steele has been trending again with people calling him the Rico remover. He represented Young Thug in a Rico case as well, so that's what he's most well known for, and now Combs. So people are saying... He's two for two now. I mean the whole defense team, I imagine that they're like the new dream team.
There's a lot of Diddy supporters online that are saying like, we knew he'd be innocent. Like they were just trying to take down a successful black man, which a lot of people have a lot of interesting discourse about. And other people are saying, this is the weirdest flex ever.
all of their computers i mean does nobody have a job like how are we supporting him after the cnn video if anything the cnn video is enough other people are commenting that a standing ovation inside the courtroom is criminal Other people are commenting, this Diddy trial is now proof that you can do anything if you have money. Other people are responding to that comment saying, yeah, which is why I'm too broke to break the law.
Other people think it's very interesting because Mark Agnifolo is representing two of the more high-profile cases that are going to be happening this year and next year. And they comment, Diddy's going to go free and Luigi Mangione is going to get convicted to the highest extent. Another person comments, this is exactly why victims don't come forward when they're abused because nothing will be done anyways. So why live with the public ridicule? This is so sad.
Others are commenting, I don't get it. He beat Cassie. How does a jury member not understand that it's creating coercion out of fear? To which other people have been defending Diddy, saying, did you not see the part where she said she liked and wanted to participate in the freak-offs? And now a lot of people are just nervous because he might be free, he might be out on bond, he might not even get jail time during his sentence.
and people think that this is going to make him feel untouchable now. But as of right now, as of filming this, probably not by the time you see it, there were people outside chanting, let Puffy go, as the judge is making his decision on whether or not he's going to let him out on Bond. Which I'm gonna leave in the pinned comment.
I know that this was not like a typical RM video. I feel like I haven't even really had the time to even get my thoughts together. This is just like right off the cuff of all of the things that the RM team has been feeling. So hopefully it was coherent enough, but... what are your thoughts on this? how do you feel? do you feel like justice was done? do you feel like another day, another sad system moment? let me know in the comments. please stay safe and i will see you in the next one.