Inside the courtroom, tension and anxiety before Diddy trial verdict was read

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This is a free article for Diddy on Trial newsletter subscribers.

Diddy’s federal trial reached a stunning conclusion this morning when the jury of 12 everyday New Yorkers delivered a mixed verdict, acquitting him on the more serious counts, racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, but finding him guilty on two interstate prostitution charges.

Diddy faces a potential prison sentence of as much as 20 years. But with the not guilty verdict on the three other counts in the U.S. government’s case, he has avoided a maximum possible sentence of life behind bars.

The seven-week trial inside the federal courthouse in Manhattan featured 34 government witnesses and reams of oftentimes graphic testimony about drug-dazed “freak offs” and alleged physical assaults. U.S. government prosecutors attempted to paint a scathing portrait of a man who, they argued, refused to take “no” for an answer.

Sean "Diddy" Combs reacts Wednesday after the verdicts were announced in Manhattan federal court in New York.Elizabeth Williams / APUltimately, though, the jury panel was not convinced that the Grammy-winning rapper led an alleged criminal enterprise or sex-trafficked two of his ex-girlfriends, the R&B singer Cassie Ventura and a woman identified by the pseudonym “Jane.”