Prosecution and defense rest in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial after six weeks of testimony

Federal prosecutors in New York rested their case Tuesday against Sean “Diddy” Combs, while the music mogul’s defense team offered no witnesses of its own, moving the sprawling racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking trial to a close sooner than expected

Federal prosecutors in New York rested their case Tuesday against Sean “Diddy” Combs, while the music mogul’s defense team offered no witnesses of its own, moving the sprawling racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking trial to a close sooner than expected.

And legal experts say the defense team's decision to call no one was unexpected but far from unusual.

“It’s more likely than not at a trial that the defense is not going to call any witnesses,” said Mitchell Epner, a former federal prosecutor for the District of New Jersey who now practices criminal defense in New York. “So what you may hear the defense counsel say during closing arguments is that the prosecution’s witnesses ‘made our case. We didn’t have a burden to prove our case, and the cross-examination of their witnesses makes it clear that we’re right and they’re wrong.’”

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Since the trial began more than six weeks ago, jurors have heard from 34 witnesses who testified to the government’s claim that Combs, the Bad Boy Records founder, rapper and entrepreneur, leveraged his businesses as a “criminal enterprise” to sexually abuse and exploit women for decades. A jury of eight men and four women reviewed reams of evidence, including text messages, videos and receipts, meant to implicate Combs.