Diddy kneeling after the verdict was announced
Twelve New York jurors gathered around 10:00 (14:00 GMT) on Wednesday in a wood-panelled courtroom to tell Sean “Diddy” Combs that they found him not guilty of running a criminal enterprise with employees, and sex trafficking his ex-girlfriends.
The disgraced hip-hop mogul fell to his knees and buried his head in a chair at the defence table where he had just spent two months on trial for sex trafficking and racketeering.
Before the verdict came down, Combs sat quietly in his chair, looking forward, wearing the same off-white sweater and pants he wore for much of his trial.
The court grew quiet as the jury foreperson handed the verdict sheet to the court deputy. Then it was handed back to the foreperson.
And they began to read.
As the sound of the “not guilty” rung out in court for the first time, acquitting Combs of the most severe crime of racketeering, the rapper kept his head low.
By the time the foreperson announced Combs was not guilty of sex trafficking, Combs had his head in his hands.
The jury did find him guilty on the least severe charges of transporting people to engage in prostitution. As they confirmed their decision, Combs buried his face in his hands.
A flurry of small celebrations followed for Combs, who has been in a federal jail in Brooklyn since September. He made a prayer sign with his hands to the jury, then turned around and made the same gesture to his family – twin daughters, sons and 85-year-old mother.
He appeared to mouth: “I’m coming home.”
The moment seemed equally emotional for Combs’ many lawyers, including Teny Geragos, seated next to him and wiping away tears with a tissue after the verdict was read.
Combs’ attorneys wasted no time in telling the judge that the verdict, reached after roughly two days of deliberations, meant Combs should be able to walk out of the Manhattan courthouse a free man that very day.
His acquittal on the most serious charges meant he no longer needed to be jailed, his attorney Marc Agnifilo told the court, noting that his client’s plane was inaccessible – chartered and in Maui.
“Mr Combs has been given his life by this jury,” he said. “He will not run afoul of anything this court imposes on him.”
Then, in the perhaps the most emotional gesture of the day for Combs, he appeared to express his gratitude by pressing his head into his chair at the defence table.
He rose, clapping his hands loudly, to hug several of his lawyers. Many family members and supporters in the main courtroom and a packed overflow room joined him, cheering.
Then, with one final hug to his lawyer and a wave to his family – blocked by a mass of people and court benches, he was escorted out of the court.
The hip-hop mogul’s homecoming hopes were later dashed as Judge Arun Subramanian denied him bail at another hearing on Wednesday afternoon.
Outside the Manhattan court, there were repeated calls of “free Diddy” in a large crowd behind barriers.
But he will remain behind bars until his sentencing later this year.
