NY Trial Attorney David Schwartz, President of Gotham Government Relations ⁨@PIX11News⁩ Talking About The Diddy Verdict.

Youtube transcript
0:03 Right now at four, breaking news. A 0:05 split verdict in the Diddy sex 0:07 trafficking trial. Sean Diddy comes 0:09 acquitted of the most serious charges 0:11 but convicted of the lesser ones. In the 0:14 meantime, there's a lot to unpack in 0:15 this split verdict. So joining us now 0:18 are is our expert panel, New York trial 0:20 attorneys Dante Mills and David Schwarz. 0:23 Thank you both for both attorneys. Just 0:26
just get your quick reaction to this 0:27 verdict. Starting with you, David. I I 0:29 think it was the perfect verdict. I I've 0:31 been calling for this verdict all along. 0:33 This was not a sex trafficking case. 0:35 This was not a RICO case, but certainly 0:37 he was guilty of of of of moving of of 0:41 transferring prostitutes across state 0:44 lines, the man act for commercial 0:46 purposes. So, so certainly he was guilty 0:48 of that. 0:49
Yeah. I think what he was found guilty 0:51 of, it was pretty clear. And fairly 0:53 early on, I believe Shawn Combmes's 0:55 defense team told him, "We're gonna have 0:57 to sacrifice this charge for the other 1:00
charges." Because you saw Sean Comb's re 1:03 reaction when the verdict came out. He 1:05 said, "I love you. I'm coming home soon 1:07 to his family." So, they already walked 1:09 him through what would happen if he was 1:10 only convicted of the lesser charge. And 1:13 I think they said to save face, to save, 1:16 you know, our our our reputation, we're 1:19 gonna say yes, he used prostitutes, but 1:22 he did it as his personal pleasure. It 1:24 had nothing to do with Rico, and as long 1:26 as we get rid of those top charges, 1:28 we'll be okay. 1:29 All right. We want to also mention that 1:30 Anthony Dorenzo is also joining us. 1:32 He'll be live with us, chiming in on 1:34 this discussion. David, I want to ask 1:36 you about that more serious charge.
1:38 Rico, are you kind of surprised now that 1:40 they were hung up on this yesterday 1:41 given what we know now that with the no 1:43 guil not guilty and the sex trafficking? 1:45 You know, well, first of all, you never 1:46 know. Every jury is different and so you 1:49 don't know how many jurors were were 1:51 hung up on it could have just been a 1:52 couple. It could have been one. Uh I 1:54 would think the the majority of the
1:56 jurors, especially with the verdict 1:57 today, were not hung up on that charge 1:59 and understood that this was not the 2:01 mafia. This was not an organized 2:04 criminal enterprise. It was never from 2:06 the start. So the the prosecution 2:10 clearly overcharged this case and I 2:12 think the jury got it just right. 2:13
Yeah, that's my take on that. Was it a 2:15 waste of money? What happened here? 2:17 I don't know if it was a waste of money. 2:18 What happened is I think they prosecuted 2:19 the person. They saw this video of of
2:21 Shawn Holmes being physically abusive, 2:23 which is absolutely despicable. They 2:25 said something must be done about it. 2:27 Unfortunately, it was too late to charge 2:29 him with that. So they went on a hunt to 2:31 see what they could charge him with. And 2:33 I think that's what happened. and they 2:35 kind of lucked into the this charge of 2:37 prostitution. They tried to piece 2:39 together the other stuff, but it wasn't 2:40 enough there to really solidify it. And 2:42 what I hope happens now is that Shawn 2:45 Combmes isn't treated as if he was 2:47 guilty because he went through our 2:49 system and jurors said he didn't force 2:51 them. He didn't coers them to do 2:53 anything. He simply used prostitution 2:56 and that should be penalized a certain 2:58 way. I don't think anybody who was just 3:00 charged or found guilty of prostitution 3:02 was sent to jail for 10, 20 years. So, I 3:04 think those numbers should be off the 3:05 table. I hope the judge does a full, you 3:08 know, kind of reset and says this is 3:09 what he was charged with. Yes, but he 3:11 was only convicted of prostitution and 3:14 I'm going to penalize him just for that. 3:16 In the meantime, let's uh let's ask uh 3:18 DLO if he's still with us. Anthony, I'm 3:20 curious about one thing. Um because 3:22 you've been there in the court from the 3:24 very beginning of this trial on May 3:26 12th. How has Diddy's demeanor evolved 3:30 over the course of those seven weeks as 3:33 you've observed him there? 3:38 I'd say that it was pretty steadfast 3:40 throughout. He had the same demeanor of, 3:42 as I said before, being the CEO of his 3:45 legal team. He was very active in his 3:47 defense. He was not one to sit back and 3:50 keep his mouth shut. He was talking 3:52 constantly with his attorneys, passing 3:55 notes when there was testimony. There's 3:57 cross-examination. He was jogging 3:59 memories of his attorneys, giving them 4:02 suggestions of of different avenues to 4:04 explore with the witnesses on the stand. 4:06
He was constantly reading the evidence. 4:09 Uh he has glasses now. And we remarked 4:12 about what his his appearance looks like 4:13 in court, an older man. Uh he was really 4:17 always very much in tune with what was 4:20 going on. There were sometimes, however, 4:22 he got admonished by the judge because
4:24 he was a little bit too into it. uh 4:26 looking at the jury at times nodding 4:29 vigorously. He was one if he did not 4:31 agree or he did agree with something. 4:33 It's something that you very much knew 4:35
right off the bat how he was feeling. 4:37 His body language all along really told 4:39 the story. 4:41 Dante, I want to go back to something 4:42 you touched on just moments ago in 4:44 regards to moving forward. Your hope 4:46 that Diddy is only penalized for what he 4:49 is convicted of. How does that play into 4:51
whether or not he may receive bail now 4:53 versus before? Well, it plays into it 4:56 because he's char Well, he was found 4:59 guilty of prostitution and the judge 5:01 when the prosecutors came and said he 5:04
should be held in jail without bond 5:06 while he awaits sentencing, the judge 5:08 challenged the prosecution and said, 5:10 "Well, I need you to come back to me 5:11 with some some evidence or some proof 5:13 that people before who were only found 5:15 guilty of prosecution prostitution was 5:18 denied bond." That generally doesn't 5:20 happen. We're only talking about 5:22 prostitution here, which is nonviolent 5:24 crime. We can say yes, he was charged 5:26 with force and coercion, but he was 5:27 found not guilty on that kind of stuff. 5:29 So, will he just be treated for what he 5:31 was found guilty of is the question. 5:33 It's also interesting. I want to know if 5:35 he's going to speak at his sentencing 5:37 because he did not speak uh it looks 5:40 like he wanted to, but he didn't speak 5:41 at the trial sentencing. He has the 5:43 right to speak without being 5:44 cross-examined. So, we'll see if he 5:46 takes the stand, if he gives a 5:48 statement, if he apologizes, what his 5:50 demeanor is, then I think that's going 5:52 to be the next interesting thing. 5:53 He did speak briefly at the end, 5:55 thanking the judge for his hard work, 5:57
but not to the jury at all. But be you 5:59 think that he might speak today for this 6:02 for this hearing, but I think he'll be 6:04 prepped and ready to speak for his 6:05 sentencing. 6:06 Does he walk today? Look, the difference 6:08 in the federal system is to grant some 6:10 sort of bail package and and clearly it 6:14 it's a prostitution case. This is not a 6:15 murder case. So, I think the bail 6:18 package that the defense proposed is 6:20 very reasonable. And I believe the judge 6:23 will grant bail. 6:24 And how quickly do you suspect that 6:26 decision will take place? 6:27 Well, the judge said he'll let the he'll 6:28 let them know today. I don't think it's 6:29 fair to have somebody kind of just 6:30 hanging on. He said he'll let them know 6:31 today. I think the judge has a good idea 6:33 based on all the experience and these 6:36 types of cases. The judge has a good 6:38 idea of what he's going to do. 6:40 Let's go back to um to Anthony who was 6:42 out there. And Anthony, you mentioned 6:43 that uh when first got that note this 6:46 morning from uh from the jury. You 6:49 mentioned that the prosecutors had a 6:51 stoic look. What was the feeling like 6:54 inside of that courtroom for us? 7:00 Well, prosecutors obviously were not 7:02 pleased with the outcome of this. 7:04
However, they still did their best to 7:05 try and sway the judge with that bail 7:08 application in their letter and in court 7:10 saying, "Yes, these are still very 7:12 serious charges. These are federal 7:13 charges that he's been convicted of." 7:15 and the way he treated people, he should 7:17 not be allowed back, especially since 7:20 when he knew he was about to be 7:21 arrested, he came here to New York and 7:23 ultimately was ready for another 7:25 freakoff, they say. Something I do want 7:27 to clarify for you uh about the 7:29
logistics of the bail hearing when we 7:31 learn what the judge decides at 5:00. 7:34 From there, it takes only about a half 7:36 hour if he's granted bail for Diddy to 7:38 sign that paperwork. Since the 7:40 guaranters are already in the building, 7:42 it won't take long at all. The Diddy 7:45 team tells me that the attorneys will
7:46 definitely be speaking outside of the 7:48 courthouse after that process. And if 7:51 Diddy is granted bail, he himself will 7:54 appear at the podium as well. 7:57 David, that's interesting. 7:58 Yeah, David, can we ask you about that? 8:00 If he is granted bail, what could the 8:02 conditions look like as far as his 8:03 release? 8:04 Well, they they could limit uh where 8:06 he's going to be. I think he wants to be 8:08 in the state of Florida at his mansion 8:10 in Florida. They could take his 8:11 passport. They could um they could tell 8:14 him, you know, you have to live a very 8:16 law-abiding life. No drugs, no alcohol, 8:19 no freakoffs, none of this nonsense. So, 8:22 uh they could put there there there's 8:25 there's they're very liberal with what 8:27 bail conditions there could be, but I 8:29 think whatever the bail conditions are, 8:31 he's he's going to go along with it. 8:33 They can test to see if you've had 8:34 alcohol or drugs. They can't test to see
8:36 if you had a free butud. 8:40 What the judge is going to consider is 8:42 is he a threat to society if he gets out 8:45 right now. The prosecution is going to 8:46 say, well, maybe he may try and 8:48 influence some witnesses, but that part 8:49 of the case is over. And then the other 8:51 aspect is will he show up or will he try 8:53 to flee? And because now he doesn't have 8:56 a mandatory minimum sentence, he'll 8:58
probably be in jail for a shorter time. 8:59 The likelihood of that is slim to none. 9:01 So, he's facing a myriad myriad of 9:03 lawsuits right now from a number of 9:05 different people. What does today's 9:07 verdict do to many of those cases? 9:09 I think it makes those cases weaker 9:11 because the jury here, although they
9:13 only considered two people, right, 9:15 Cassie Vento and Jane, the jury here 9:17 said there was no force or coercion. And 9:20 although he committed the crime of 9:22 prostitution, which is technically 9:24
illegal, everybody was willing 9:25 participants. So, you can't sue someone 9:28 civily for something you willingly 9:29 participated in. So, I think this kind 9:31 of emboldens his defense against those 9:33 civil cases. 9:34 I'm going to push back a little. We have 9:35 to disagree on something, right? So, so 9:38 that in in a civil case, it's a much 9:40 lower standard, right? It's just 9:41 prepoundonderance of the evidence. It's
9:43 just this balancing. So, clearly they 9:45 didn't have proof beyond a reasonable 9:47 doubt, which is the standard in a 9:48 criminal case. So, a civil case much 9:51 lower standard. There's definitely um 9:54 causes of action here that have been 9:56 brought in the civil arena and I think 9:58 it'll be an easier time to to show him 10:02 to show that he's liable for a civil 10:04 case rather than convicted on a criminal 10:06 case. 10:06
All right, gentlemen. We're going to 10:08 have to leave it there. Dante, David, 10:09 thank you guys for this process as well 10:12 as DLO. It's all the the D did D did D 10:14 did D did D did D did D did D did D did 10:14
D did Dy do Dante David? 10:18 We need to change our name. 10:19 I know exactly. Thank you guys all for
10:21 being here and your analysis.