Diddy was reading a bible in the courtroom on Monday, as opening statements in his criminal case finally began. The New York Times reports that he wore formal wear to the hearing and sat reading from the book as his family entered.
In their description of the scene, the outlet's reporters write: "Combs wore a gray sweater, a white collared shirt and gray pants — with his graying hair and beard revealed from life in detention, where he cannot dye it. Most of his family was present, including his mother and his 18-year-old twin daughters, D’Lila and Jessie, who greeted him with heart-shaped hands; he waved back and blew them kisses. At the defense table, he sat reading a Bible."
The day began with both the prosecution and the defense confirming the 12 jurors and six alternates who will oversee the case. After the group was sworn in, both sides proceeded with opening statements.
The prosecution kicked the process off by alluding to "another side" of Diddy not known to the public. Attorney Emily A. Johnson began: “During this trial you are going to hear about 20 years of the defendant’s crimes. But he didn’t do it alone. He had an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees who helped him commit crimes and helped him cover them up."
The defense, on the other hand, argued the case is "about love, and jealousy and money," according to Inner City Press. They suggested that Diddy is far from perfect, but is not guilty of the specific crimes of which the government is accusing him.
Diddy Trial Day 1
Diddy's ex-girlfriend, Cassie, was a major part of both sides' opening statements. The prosecution alleged that Diddy once instructed a male escort to urinate into her mouth during a freak-off. She “felt like she was choking” when Combs “made an escort urinate into her mouth," Johnson alleged. She also accused Diddy of allegedly "brutally" beating Cassie "countless times" over the years.
Diddy's lawyer, Teny Geragos, brought up Cassie, describing her as a jealous ex-girlfriend who was in a toxic relationship with the Bad Boy mogul for a number of years. She even referenced the hotel assault video from 2016 directly, describing it as indefensible, but noting it had no relation to the alleged charges.
