There's a reason fans of the TV show Law and Order could be banned from attending Diddy's jury during his upcoming sex trafficking trial.
Sean Combs, better known from his stage name P Diddy, is facing five criminal charges, including sex trafficking by force, conspiracy racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution after several accused the star of kidnapping, drugging and coercing women into sex acts.
In March, he was also hit with a new indictment that accuses the rapper of forcing employees to work long hours and of threatening to punish those who did not assist in his alleged sex trafficking scheme.
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Combs has denied all of the allegations and entered a plea of not guilty on September 17 last year, with his trial set to be heard in the coming weeks.
Before his hearing, however, official jury selection is slated to begin on May 5, which could see fans of true crime and police dramas like Law and Order possibly weeded out.
According to files seen by The Mirror, prosecutors are particularly interested to know about potential jurors' TV diet.
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They ask 'What television programs the juror regularly watches', as per the news outlet, and specifically asks 'Whether the juror watches Law and Order, CSI or other police dramas'.
There are some surprising connections between both the shows and Diddy, for instance in Law and Order season 3 in the episode 'Dawg Night', a fictional rapper was lurking around a nightclub that becomes the scene of a crime while a Latina pop star also makes an appearance.
Fans say the episode could have been inspired by a similar 1999 shooting which allegedly involved Diddy and his then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, though the rapper was acquitted and charges against J-Lo were dropped.
Then, Diddy appeared on two episodes on CSI: Miami in 2009, playing the part of a lawyer.
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However, it remains unclear if Diddy's connection to the shows is why they're specifically included in the quiz, or whether or not potential jurors who have watched them could be booted out of the running to attend.
Attorney Anthony Capozzolo at the litigation firm Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss previously predicted potential jurors could face such questioning, saying the questionnaire might ask for details about 'TV shows they watch, news sources, hobbies and other activities all to try to provide some insight into they type of juror they would be'.
Such pretrial questions are apparently common to help both the prosecution and the defense to build an impartial jury, though each side clearly want a model jury that will help them to win the case.
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Once the jury has been selected, opening statements for the high-profile trial are scheduled to begin on May 12.
There is no set end date for the case which could go on anywhere between eight to 10 weeks though Criminal Defense Solicitor and legal expert Katie McCreath told the news outlet that the complexity of the case could see it drag out for even longer
"Prosecutors must prove a pattern of criminal conduct within an enterprise, likely relying on multiple victims, digital evidence, and financial trails," she explained. "Trials of this nature often run six to twelve weeks, sometimes longer."
Topics: Diddy, True crime, Crime, Court, Celebrity, Hollywood, Music, US News
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