Online Reporter
IT’S a trial that has generated interest around the world and, on Wednesday, it came to an end in New York.
The verdict stunned millions and cheered millions too.
At the heart of the mega trial was hip hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
The 55-year-old music mogul faced life in prison if convicted of the top charge – racketeering conspiracy.
However, he was found not guilty of sex-trafficking and racketeering at the end of a bombshell trial.
He was convicted of two counts under the federal Mann Act for transporting people, including his girlfriends and paid male sex workers, to engage in prostitution.
Each count of the felony crime carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
The jury of eight men and four women acquitted Combs of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges, related to allegations that he used his money, power and frightening physical force to manipulate his girlfriends into hundreds of drug-fueled sex marathons with the men.
Diddy has been in detention since September last year.
Tony Buzbee, an attorney, who represents over 100 suspected Diddy victims, said the hip hop mogul “dodged a big bullet.”
He said the jury found that he violated federal law with regard to the transportation to engage in prostitution but cleared him on the three most serious charges.
Buzbee said the acquittal could have come because of the nature of his relationship with those women and the length of those two relationships.
He felt the jury struggled with the difficult issue of consent and more broadly whether Combs’ conduct appropriately fit within the RICO statute.
The defence acknowledged that Diddy engaged in domestic violence, but argued that the two women were strong and independent and consensually took part in his sexual performances.
The defence lawyers accused prosecutors of trying to criminalise Diddy’s private sex life.
That is the beauty of the law.
On the streets, when one heard all that evidence and graphic illustration, the verdict was that Diddy would be jailed for life.
The impression was that there was just too much evidence for Diddy to even escape one of the charges, especially the serious one of sex trafficking.
But, the law doesn’t act that way.
The law doesn’t have emotions and it is guided by facts only.
We have had many cases in this country which have captured the attention of the whole nation.
Sometimes, when the judgments have been pronounced, we have seen a backlash, even against the magistrates and judges.
We have seen many conspiracy theories with some even going as far as to claim that justice was being bought simply because it wasn’t the kind of judgment they expected.
But, as we have seen in Diddy’s mega trial, sometimes the judgment isn’t what the majority of people expected and that doesn’t mean that the law has been compromised.
It’s just the way that justice expresses itself.
