July 2, 2025

"JURY MELTDOWN: Diddy Partial Verdict Reached - Deadlocked on LIFE SENTENCE"

Show Notes
Transcript

The Diddy trial exploded into chaos as jurors reached a partial verdict on four charges but deadlocked on the racketeering conspiracy that could send him to prison for life. Reid Carter dissects the "unpersuadable opinions" tearing the jury apart and why this deadlock might be great news for Diddy's defense. From problematic Juror 25 to six jury notes in two days, this deliberation has been a disaster from the start. Plus: What happens next and why the prosecution may have overcharged their case. The verdict watch continues in this unprecedented legal drama.

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WEBVTT

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Warning. This episode contains references to sexual situations that may

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be disturbing to some listeners. Please proceed with caution. Caliogus

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Shark Media, Good morning, I'm read Carter, and welcome to

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Celebrity Trials.

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If you thought yesterday's developments in the Sean Diddy Comb's

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trial couldn't get any more dramatic, you were dead wrong.

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What we witnessed yesterday was a legal earthquake that has

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turned this case completely upside down and left everyone asking

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the same question, what the hell is happening in that

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jury room? After two days of deliberations marked by dysfunction,

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rogue jurors, and mounting tension, the twelve people deciding Diddy's

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fate dropped a bombshell that nobody saw coming. They've reached

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a partial verdict, but they're completely deadlocked on the one

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charge that could send them to prison for life. Let

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me walk you through yesterday's absolutely wild sequence of events,

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because this case has now officially entered uncharted territory. The

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day started with what seemed like productive deliberations. The jury

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sent multiple notes requesting specific testimony transcripts. They wanted to

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review Cassie Ventura's account of the twenty sixteen Intercontinental Hotel assault,

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her testimony about the cann Film Festival trip, and most tellingly,

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her interactions with mail escort Daniel Phillip during the infamous

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freak Offs. This wasn't random. Legal experts immediately recognized that

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the jury was laser focused on the prosecution's strongest examples

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of alleged sex trafficking. They were asking for testimony about

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three specific incidents that prosecutor Christy Slavic had highlighted as

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clear cut cases of coercion and force. The fact that

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they specifically requested Daniel Phillips's testimony was particularly significant. Remember,

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Philip was one of the prosecution's most devastating witnesses, the

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male escort who testified about being paid to have sex

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with Cassie while Ditty watched and recorded. He described seeing

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Ditty drag Cassie by her hair, hearing her screaming I'm

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sorry repeatedly, and witnessing what he believed was violence behind

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closed doors. But here's where it gets interesting and where

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the legal team started to get nervous. The prosecution and

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defense couldn't even agree on what portions of testimony to

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send to the jury. The defense wanted to include Cassie's

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messages coordinating freak offs and details about her ten million

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dollar settlement with the Intercontinental Hotel. The prosecution wanted to

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keep it narrow, focusing only on the alleged assault itself.

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After hours of arguing, Judge Supermanian suggested sending the jury

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Cassie's entire testimony transcript. That's when we saw Ditty's first

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visible reaction of the day. He visibly shook his head

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at his lawyer, clearly unhappy with how this was playing out.

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Then came the afternoon bombshell. At four h five pm,

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the jury sent their sixth notes since deliberations began. But

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this wasn't a request for testimony or clarification. This was

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a verdict note sort of. Judge Subramanian read it aloud.

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We have reached a verdict on four of the five counts.

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We are unable to reach a verdict on count one

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as we have jurors with unpersuadable opinions on both sides.

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Count one the racketeering conspiracy charge, the big one, the

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charge that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison

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and alleges that Diddy ran a criminal enterprise for over

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twenty years. The courtroom erupted in controlled chaos. Didty's legal

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team immediately huddled around him in what one reporter described

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as a horseshoe formation. Didty himself sat with his head down,

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hands folded in his lap, appearing to pray, as his

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lawyers strategized above him. At one point, two of his

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attorneys hugged each other. The prosecution looked stunned. They'd built

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what many considered an overwhelming case, with thirty four witnesses,

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explicit videos, and mountains of digital evidence, but here was

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a jury telling them they had unpersuadable opinions on the

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most serious charge. Now here's what makes this so significant.

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The jury has reached unanimous decisions on the four other counts,

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the two sex trafficking charges and the two transportation for

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prostitution charges, but they won't tell us what those verdicts

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are until they resolve the racketeering deadlock. This is where

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the legal maneuvering got intense. Both the prosecution and defense

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told Judge Subramanian they wanted the jury to keep deliberating,

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but for very different reasons. The prosecution suggested what's called

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an Allen charge. Essentially, instructions that push a jury to

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try harder to reach unanimity. The defense was more cautious,

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arguing the jury had only been del liberating for a

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short time and should naturally continue. Judge Subramanian ultimately decided

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against accepting a partial verdict. He instructed the jury to

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keep deliberating on count one, telling them I ask at

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this time that you keep deliberating. But here's the key

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language he used, and this is crucial for understanding where

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this case is headed. Subramanian told the jury, your verdict

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must be unanimous, but you are not bound to surrender

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your honest convictions concerning the effect or weight of the

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evidence for the mere purpose of returning a verdict. Each

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of you must make your own decision about the proper

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outcome of this case. No juror should surrender his or

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her conscientious beliefs for the purpose of returning a unanimous verdict.

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That's judge speak for try to reach a verdict, but

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don't cave to pressure if you genuinely believe you're right.

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The jury was then dismissed for the day after sending

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one final note. They were done for two Tuesday and

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would resume Wednesday morning. Now let's talk about what this

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deadlock actually means. Because the racketeering charge is incredibly complex.

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To convict hen Rico, the jury has to find that

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Ditty conspired with at least two other people to run

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a criminal enterprise, and that this enterprise committed at least

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two predicate acts from a list including kidnapping, arson, bribery,

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witness tampering, forced labor, sex trafficking, and drug distribution. The

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defense has hammered away at this charge throughout the trial,

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arguing that Ditty might be guilty of individual crimes, but

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there was no organized criminal enterprise. They've pointed out that

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no one else was indicted, that many of Ditty's employees

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testified they didn't know about criminal activity, and that much

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of what the prosecution calls enterprise conduct was really just

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Ditty's personal behavior. The prosecution, meanwhile, has argued that Ditty's

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business empire bad Boy Entertainment, his security team, his assistants

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all fought unctioned as a criminal organization designed to facilitate

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and cover up his crimes. The fact that the jury

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is deadlocked suggests some jurors by the defense argument that

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this was individual misconduct, not organized crime. Others clearly believe

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the prosecution's enterprise theory. And remember, this is the same

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jury that's been dysfunctional from day one. We had Jura

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twenty five who couldn't follow instructions. On Monday, We've had

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six different notes with questions and concerns. This is not

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a smooth deliberation process. When we come back, I'm going

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to tell you exactly what I think is happening in

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that jury room, why this deadlock might actually be great

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news for Diddy, and what's likely to happen next in

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this legal circus. Plus, i'll explain why this partial verdict

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situation could drag on for weeks and what it means

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for the biggest trial of the year. Don't go anywhere,

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Welcome back to celebrity trials. I'm read Carter, and I

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need to be brutally honest with you about what I

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think is happening in the Sean Ditty Combs case, because

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this partial verdict situation is both fascinating and deeply troubling. First,

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let's talk about that racketeering deadlock, because I think I

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know exactly what's going on in that jury room. The

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prosecution built their entire case around the theory that didty

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ran a criminal enterprise, that Bad Boy Entertainment was essentially

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a front for twenty years of organized crime. But here's

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the problem. That's a really hard sell when most of

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Ditty's so called co conspirators testified that they didn't know

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they were committing crimes. Think about it. The prosecution called

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six different assistants and employees. Most of them said things like, yeah,

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did he could be a jerk, but he was also

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amazing to work for and I didn't really see anything criminal.

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That's not the testimony you need to prove a Rico conspiracy.

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That's the testimony that under minds it. I think what's

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happening is some jurors are looking at the evidence and saying, Okay,

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did he clearly committed sex trafficking and prostitution crimes against

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these women, But did he really run a criminal enterprise

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with all these other people or was he just a powerful,

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abusive individual who used his money and influence to commit crimes?

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And honestly, those jurors might be right. The prosecution may

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have overcharged this case. By going with Rico, they might

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have had a slam dunk case on the sex trafficking charges,

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But by adding the enterprise element. They created reasonable doubt

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where none needed to exist. Here's what really concerns me.

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We're now heading into a situation where this jury could

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convict Diddy on four serious felonies but hang on the

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one charge that carries life in prison. That means, even

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if he's convicted on everything else did, he might be

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looking at fifteen to twenty years instead of life. That's

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still serious time, but it's not the total destruction the

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prosecution was seeking. And let's talk about the elephant in

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the room. This jury has been problematic from the beginning.

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We had Juror twenty five who couldn't follow instructions. We've

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had six different notes in two days. This is not

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a functioning, deliberative body. This is a group of people

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who are struggling to work together, and that kind of

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dysfunction usually benefits the defense. I'm also seeing some strategic

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mistakes by the prosecution. When the jury asked for specific

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testimony yesterday, the prosecution should have been thrilled the jury

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was asking for their strongest evidence. Cassie's testimony about the

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hotel assault, the can trip, the Daniel Phillip encounters. These

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are the moments that show clear coercion and violence. But

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instead of confidently providing that testimony, the prosecution got into

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an hour's long fight with the defense about what to include.

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That makes them look uncertain about their own case. If

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you really believe you have overwhelming evidence, you don't haggle

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over details. Here's my prediction for what happens next. This

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jury is going to come back today and either reach

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a verdict on the racketeering charge or they're going to

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send another note saying they're hopelessly deadlocked. If they can't

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reach agreement after Judge Supermanian's instructions yesterday, they're probably not

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going to get there. If that happens, the judge will

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eventually have to decide whether to accept a partial verdict

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or declare a complete mistrial. My guess is he'll accept

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the partial verdict on the four counts where they've reached

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agreement and declare a mistrial only on the racketeering charge.

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That would give the prosecution a choice. Do they retry

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Ditty on racketeering or do they take their conviction on

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the other charges and move on. Given how much this

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trial has cost and how long it's taken, I think

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they'd probably take the conviction and run. But here's the

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wild card. We still don't know which way the jury

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voted on those four charges where they reached agreement. They

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could have convicted on all four, acquitted on all four,

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or split the difference. If they acquitted on the sex

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trafficking charges, this case becomes a complete disaster for the prosecution.

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The other thing that's driving me crazy is the media

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coverage of this. Everyone's treating this like it's some kind

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of victory for Ditty, but we don't actually know what

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the verdicts are. The jury could have convicted him on

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four felonies that carried decades in prison. That's not exactly

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cause for celebration. What I think we're seeing here is

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the result of a prosecution that got too aggressive with

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their charging decisions. They had a strong case for individual

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crimes against specific victims, but by trying to make this

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into a rico case, by trying to prove a twenty

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year criminal enterprise, they created complexity and doubt where none

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needed to exist. And that's exactly what good defense attorneys

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like Mark Agnafilo are trained to do. They can't argue

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that Ditty didn't commit crimes. The evidence is too strong

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but they can argue about the scope and nature of

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those crimes. They can say, yes, he's guilty of violence

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and abuse, but he's not al capone. Looking ahead, this

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case is far from over. Even if we get verdicts

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on all charges this week, this is going to be

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appealed for years. The defense will argue that the jury dysfunction,

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the problematic jurors, and the partial verdict process all violated

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Ditty's rights to a fair trial. The prosecution will argue

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that they prove their case and that any jury issues

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were properly handled by the judge. But appeals courts don't

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like messi trials, and this has been about as messy

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as they come. My bottom line, this trial has exposed

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serious weaknesses in the prosecution's strategy and approach. They may

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still get convictions, but this isn't the overwhelming victory they

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were expecting, and for Ditty, even a partial victory like

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avoiding the racketeering conviction could be the difference between dying

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in prison and having a chance at freedom in his seventies.

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That's celebrity trials for today. The jury resumes deliberations this

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morning at nine am, and we could have a resolution

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within hours, or this could drag on for days. Make

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sure you're subscribed and have those notifications on because when

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these verdicts finally drop, you'll hear it here first. This

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case has been a masterclass in how high stakes trials

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can spiral into chaos, and we're about to see how

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it all ends or doesn't end, depending on what that

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jury decides. I'm read Carter. Justice is messy, truth is complicated,

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and sometimes the most important question isn't guilt or innocence,

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it's which version of guilt the jury believes