Spanish
New York.- The jury that will decide the fate of rapper Sean Combs, known as P. Diddy, in his sex trafficking trial being held in New York, will be chosen on Friday, as established this Wednesday by the judge in charge, Arun Subramanian.
On the third day of the trial facing the artist, Subramanian, who initially intended to complete the jury selection this Wednesday, finished choosing 45 candidates, from among whom the twelve members of the main panel and another six alternates will be chosen.
The judge scheduled a hearing for this Friday at 9:00 local time (13:00 GMT) in which both the prosecution and the defense may request that a certain number of potential jurors be dismissed without giving a reason. In this case, the Government has the right to remove six candidates and Combs' lawyers can dismiss ten.
Combs, 55, appeared in court this Wednesday wearing a black sweater with a white shirt, glasses, and carrying a briefcase, and upon entering, he fixed his gaze on the audience with his hand on his heart.
Among the eleven shortlisted candidates, who are added to those chosen in the previous two sessions, is a man who works at the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism and whose selection was initially opposed by one of Combs' lawyers, Marc Agnifilo.
Agnifilo questioned the possibility that this potential jury had collaborated with sectors of the Government such as the Department of Homeland Security, but the judge rejected this objection, alleging that this candidate's work is focused on the international arena.
Also, a woman who acknowledged having seen the video in which Combs brutally beats his ex-partner, singer Cassie Ventura, and who described the images as "shocking" and "terrifying", is among the potential jurors.
While among the dismissed people was an employee of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, where Combs himself is imprisoned without bail, and a woman who said she had read multiple 'tweets' about the case and thought that Combs' fate was already "decided".
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Today, Combs, whose hair has turned gray since he has been in prison, watched the potential jurors closely as they answered the judge's questions, and at times wrote notes on a piece of paper.
The artist is charged with five counts, one of conspiracy to extort; two of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two of transportation for prostitution.
The initial arguments of both parties are scheduled to begin next Monday and the trial is expected to last about eight weeks.
