What to know about the trial

• The 12-person jury has entered its second day of deliberations in Combs’ trial. They have already sent the judge five notes.
• Combs faces five criminal counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has vociferously denied the allegations against him.

Deliberations had a rocky start yesterday as issues arose between jurors

Deliberations appear to be off to a rocky start in the sex trafficking and racketeering case against Combs yesterday, just hours after the judge turned the case over to the jury.

Combs has spent the last six weeks on trial in the Southern District of New York as the government seeks to prove that he was at the helm of a “criminal enterprise,” using his employees to help commit several crimes. Within about two hours of deliberations, however, the jury sent a note to the judge expressing a concern over one of its members.

The note to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian said the group was worried that Juror No. 3 “does not follow” the judge’s instructions.

No additional details about the cause of the concern were provided.

Jury deliberating for second day

Jurors returned to the jury room today for day two of deliberations after completing five and a half hours yesterday.

They sent four notes to the judge, including a question about drug distribution, which the judge will answer after conferring with attorneys.

They went directly to the jury room and began deliberations around 9 a.m.

The jury has sent its fifth note

The jury sent its fifth note at around 10:27 a.m.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys returned to the courtroom, where they all looked at their phones and conferred about the note. Prosecutor Maurene Comey went to the defense table to chat with defense lawyer Teny Geragos.

Prosecutors were chatting and taking notes as the defense team huddled near the court artist.

Combs’ mother has entered the courtroom

Janice Combs has just arrived as we wait for the jury’s latest note to be read aloud. She had been waiting in the eighth-floor cafeteria. 

Jury note asked for testimony transcripts

The jury requested transcripts of testimony given by Cassie Ventura and Daniel Phillip, a sex worker who was hired for “freak offs” with Combs and Ventura.

They asked specifically for Ventura’s testimony about the March 2016 InterContinental Hotel assault, about when she and Combs were at the Cannes Film Festival and its aftermath, and about her “freak offs” with Phillip. The note also asked what Phillip told the court about a “freak off” at the Essex hotel.

Comey told the judge they reached an agreement on the Phillip testimony and one of the sections regarding the Cannes incident, though there was a dispute over where to cut off the events after the incident. The prosecution added that they are working through the testimony on the InterContinental hotel.

Court started with a heated debate on how to respond to the jury’s question

The morning started with a heated debate on yesterday’s jury question about a specific aspect of drug distribution. Both sides took the notes as critical opportunities to influence the response.

A note came in yesterday just before court closed for the day, asking whether an individual is considered a distributor if they gave substances to someone who asked for the drugs. Prosecutors pointed to lines on page 37 of the jury charge document, which said that distributing “simply means to deliver, to pass over, or to hand over something to another person.”

Combs is not charged with drug distribution specifically, but possession with intent to distribute is considered a predicate crime within his racketeering charge.

Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo argued that the answer didn’t go far enough, but U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian ultimately sided with the government on what to send back.

“I just listened to you and I have heard what you said,” Subramanian said to Agnifilo. “I don’t think your concern has any basis.”

Both sides argue over testimony excerpts about InterContinental Hotel

The prosecution and defense went back and forth over what parts of Ventura’s testimony regarding the March 2016 assault she endured from Combs at the InterContinental Hotel should be sent back to the jury.

Combs’ defense wanted to include messages between Combs and Ventura leading up to the hotel visit in which they were coordinating a “freak off.” Still, prosecutors wanted it limited to the incident at the hotel itself. Both sides went back and forth until the judge suggested offering the jury Ventura’s entire testimony transcript.

Prosecutor Emily Johnson told the court the prosecution had no problem with this, but defense lawyer Teny Geragos pushed back. Geragos argued that the entire testimony, which is 800 pages long, would be too overwhelming for the jury.

Eventually, they agreed to send a portion of Ventura’s testimony that would include the texts from before and after the hotel assault. An Instagram post Ventura made after CNN released video of the hotel assault will also be given to the jury.

Subramanian ordered that it be ready for the jury by 1 p.m. ET.

Combs reassures his mother, ‘it’s gonna be alright’

Combs sat with his defense team this morning wearing light pants and a light sweater, appearing a little bit on edge as the day began.

He waved to his family and blew kisses to his mother, Janice, as she sat in the second row. Combs leaned over to speak to her later in the morning after both parties had argued over how to answer a question from the jury.

“Just relax, it’s going to be alright, Ma,” Combs told her. He added, “I like your shirt, your outfit.”

Jury sends its sixth note

Attorneys are filling the courtroom as the jury has sent a note to the court.

This is the sixth note from the jury since deliberations began yesterday.

Combs enters court and huddles with his defense attorneys

Combs is back in the courtroom and standing in the huddle with his defense attorneys as they discuss another note from the jury.

The prosecution is sitting in their chairs, but Combs’ team has formed a horseshoe as members stand around Combs. His head is down and defense attorneys are hugging each other.

Verdicts reached on 4 of the 5 counts

The jury has told the judge they have reached a verdict on four of the counts but are unable to reach a consensus on the racketeering charge.

The note said they have jurors with “unpersuadable views.”

Both sides request the jury continue deliberating

Attorneys for both the prosecution and defense have told the judge they would like the jury to continue deliberating on count one, the racketeering charge against Combs.

Agnfilo told the judge that the jury has been deliberating only a short time and should continue. Comey also told the court that they will put together an Allen charge, instructions that urge a jury to keep working in order to avoid a hung jury.

Subramanian asked for both sides to send proposed instructions and send it to his chambers so he can take it from there.

Lawyers want judge to read Allen charge to jurors

The government prosecutors and defense team both say they want jurors to keep deliberating on the remaining charge.

The judge would read jurors an Allen charge, which is also informally called a “dynamite charge,” telling the jury to keep talking to find a way to agree to a verdict.

Here are the four elements of the racketeering charge the jury must consider

The judge informed the jury yesterday that in order to prove Combs violated the RICO Act, there are four elements to consider.

Subramanian instructed the jury that it must find that there was an agreement — whether spoken or unspoken — by at least two people to participate in a criminal enterprise. They must conclude that Combs has also been a willful member of the enterprise and knowingly committed two predicate crimes as part of the criminal conspiracy.

Finally, the racketeering activities must have affected interstate or foreign commerce to meet the racketeering charge threshold.

The jury is being brought back in

Subramanian is bringing the jury back into court after taking input from both the prosecution and the defense on what to tell jurors in response to their announcement that they are deadlocked on a single count.

The prosecution’s suggestion is something less than a formal Allen charge, instead a response urging the jury to continue deliberations. The judge seemed to favor that proposal.

There’s also discussion on logistics for what happens if the jurors don’t have a decision by Thursday, as the court is closed Friday for the Fourth of July.

Judge tells jurors to keep deliberating, adding they should not hesitate to change their opinions

Subramanian asked the jury to continue on with discussions to come to a consensus on the outstanding charge.

He urged the jurors to remember his instructions and added that they should not hesitate to change an opinion when convinced. Subramanian advised them that they must weigh their opinion dispassionately.

They were told to return to the jury room, and if they were done for the day they would be brought back in for a dismissal.

Jurors dismissed for the day as judge urges them to ‘keep an open mind’

Minutes after being told to return to the jury room, the group sent a note to the judge alerting them that it was done for the day.

The jurors returned to the courtroom briefly to be formally dismissed for the day. Subramanian reminded them to “keep an open mind” as they continue deliberations tomorrow and thanked them for all their hard work.

S: NBC News