8:37 am: Sean Combs has still not been brought into the courtroom; the lawyers are milling around. Brian Steel comes up to AUSA Maurene Comey to shake hands. Agnifilo and Alexandra Shapiro conferring. 1st step: peremptory challenges to 45 prospective jurors

8:53 am - Sean Combs is now in the courtroom, wearing a light sweater instead of last week's dark blue. He turns and blows a kiss to family members in the second row of the gallery.

8:56 am: Clerk: Are the parties ready? Yes. Clerk: Mr. Combs, were you able to get some water? We'll made arrangements for that. Judge Subramanian has still not come into the courtroom.

9:03 am Agnfilo and Teny Geragos are pouring over papers, presumably for peremptory challenges to prospective jurors. Combs, wearing reading glasses, is also looking down at papers. Three of the six prosecutors are looking at or typing on their cell phones.

9:26 am: Combs' lawyer Agnifilo & prosecutor Maurene Comey are the ones in with Judge Subramanian, presumably doing the peremptory strikes to the jury pool. In NYS court, this is all done in public, in the courtroom, on the record. Wait for announcement of jurors

9:34 am - and we're off. Judge Subramanian: Good morning. We are here for peremptory challenges. AUSA Comey: We strike Juror 51. Agnifilo: We strike 52 and 106. Comey: We strike 216. Agnifilo: 157 and 112. Comey: We strike 118. Agnifilo: We strike 127 and 131.

AUSA Comey: We strike 81. Agnifilo: We strike 149 and 20. Comey: We strike 161. Agnifilo: We strike 22 and 84 Comey: The defense was only supposed to strike one in this round. Agnifilo: So, we strike only only 22. Comey: We strike 163. Angifilo: We strike 84

AUSA Comey: We strike 220. Agnifilo: We strike 25. Comey: I believe he was supposed to strike in the alternative. Agnifilo: Give me one second [Confers with Nicole Westmoreland] 218. Comey: We strike 324. Agnifilo: 240. Comey: We strike 281. Agnifilo: One moment

Combs' Agnifilo: I note that the Government has struck seven Black people out of nine strikes. Judge Subramanian: I'll give you a change to raise that, but let's continue. Agnfilo: We're strike 307.

Judge Subramanian: Our jurors 2, 5, 25, 28, 55, 58, 75, 116, 160, 184, 201, 217, 230, 234, 247, 292, 321, 330. Agnifilo: The US struck 7 Black people which amounts to a pattern Judge: An application has been made under Batson. Ms. Comey? AUSA Comey: We are neutral

AUSA Comey: Juror 51 knew 17 of the names, appeared to have seen Making the Band, has a relative with law enforcement issues. The next strike, he harassed a police officer and didn't report it. His sister had an issue - this clears the bar, these are good reasons.

AUSA Comey: Juror 81, we think they claim to have special knowledge of bi-polar issues. 161, he said he watched news about the case that morning, he said it was inevitable. He'd lose 30% of his income but wants on - he has an agenda.

AUSA Comey: We struck 163, I believe for cause, due to English proficiency and he had a relative who shot a police officer. Among the alternates, we barred a person who went to Mr. Combs' high school. The next one, 324, has sleep apnea

AUSA Comey: He also called the police as*holes, we struck him. And 281, she said "victims can catch a case and jump on a bandwagon," we think she has an agenda. These easily clear Batson's bar.

Judge Subramanian: I deny the defense's Batson challenge, these were not based on purposeful discrimination. Mr. Agnifilo, anything more? Agnifilo: Nothing from us.

Judge: We'll bring in the jury in a few minutes [If like and can, support: https://www.paypal.com/paypalm...  https://venmo.com/u/Matthew-Le...  https://buymeacoffee.com/inner...  w/ extras, like on X for Subscribers: https://matthewrussellleeicp.s... w/ docs: https://patreon.com/MatthewRus...

[While we wait, Inner City Press has put up an extra about a questionable fact / lie that made it through the challenges, on X for Subscribers: https://x.com/innercitypress/s... and on Substack here https://matthewrussellleeicp.s...

10:17 am Jurors are seated. Judge Arun Subramanian: Welcome back. This is US v. Sean Combs. We will be providing lunch for you in the jury room. We will not release your names to the public. Clerk swears in jurors.

Judge: Questions are not evidence. Only the answers given by the witnesses and the documents are evidence. You can consider circumstantial evidence, like someone walking in with a dripping umbrella - you can surmise it's raining outside, even if you don't see it

Judge: That a witness uses a pseudonym does not mean that their testimony is worthy of less weight. During the trial do not read or view [or listen] anything about this case, and don't post anything. Once the US rests, the defense can present - should he choose to

AUSA Johnson: This is Sean Combs. To the public, he was a cultural icon, a businessman, larger that life. But there was another side to him. You will hear about 20 years of the defendant's crimes. He had a team to help him: kidnapping, arson, drugs, sex crimes

AUSA Johnson: Let's start with one might. He was on the hunt for his girlfriend, Cassie. He forced her to have sex with male escorts while he watched and recorded it. He found out Cassie was seeing another man. Furious, he set out to find Cassie and another man

AUSA: He woke an employee to drive to the house - but no one was there. The defendant didn't give up. He kept looking for Cassie. When he found her, he beat her brutally, kicking her in the back and flinging her around like a rag doll. But it wasn't enough

AUSA: He told Cassie he could release video of her having sex with male escorts. He broke into a man's house and he beat and blackmailed his girlfriend. These are not his only crimes. Cassie is not the only woman he beat and sexually exploited. 20 years of crimes

AUSA: He had a business, Bad Boy Records, that made him right. He relied on his bodyguards, chiefs of staff, who ran all aspects of his life. The group promoted his power. His bodyguards kidnapped an employee, and set a car on fire, dangled a person

AUSA: They delivered drugs whenever he said, including to woman he forced to have sex with escort. He transported them across state lines and even out of the country. Let me be very clear: this case is not about a celebrity's private sexual preferences

AUSA: This was criminal. He coerced and even used violence. Along of this trial will focus on two woman. Cassie and Jane. We will show that the defendant used lied, drugs, threats and violence to force them to have sex with him in front of male escorts.

AUSA: He called them freak-offs, wild king nights, or hotel nights. His staff organized flights, cars and hotels. At his direction, his staff set up the room with lubricant and lighting. Staff came in with cash to pay the escorts, and drugs.

AUSA: He made them take MDMA or Molly, and Ecstasy. It made them sick but also sexually aroused. He directed every step - he expected the women to appear to enjoy themselves. He masturbated and recorded the events. Cassie was 19 with a hit song

AUSA: Cassie tried to work on her music but the defendant made her turn down many opportunities. She recorded, but he had the final say over the music she released. There was never another album. He sit Cassie in the head and dragged her by the hair

AUSA: He stomped on Cassie's face in an SUV, then made her stay in a hotel for a week to hide her injuries. He set up freak offs as often as once a week. She spent have of her time. The defendant made an escort urinate in her mouth.

AUSA: As you will see in this trial, he beat her in the hallway of a hotel to drag her back into the freak off. Initially she wanted to make him happy. But then she didn't want to - but the defendant made her. The consequences were severe