Tensions are escalating between Diddy’s defense team and federal prosecutors regarding the timing of jury selection.
According to legal documents obtained by our friends at TMZ, federal prosecutors have requested that jury selection commence on April 21st. However, Diddy’s legal team is pushing for a later date, proposing May 5th as the start date to allow additional time to prepare his defense. In addition, Diddy’s attorneys are seeking a larger jury pool than usual, requesting 600 potential jurors. They also want each of the jurors to complete detailed written questionnaires, although the exact questions they intend to ask have not been disclosed.
Get this, Federal prosecutors, however, are advocating for a more streamlined process. They suggest that the questionnaires should be limited to addressing only scheduling conflicts. On top of that, Diddy’s lawyers are requesting that the jury selection process be sequestered, meaning jurors would be questioned individually, rather than as a group.
ICYMI or were hiding under a rock, the Love Records honcho was arrested in September on serious federal charges. His trial is currently slated to begin in May. Should he be convicted, Diddy faces a potentially lengthy prison sentence, making the outcome of the case critical.
What’s more, earlier this week, Diddy’s legal team accused CNN of destroying the only complete copy of that security footage, claiming that the version released publicly had been altered. CNN has firmly denied these allegations, insisting that there was no tampering with the evidence.