Judge Arun Subramanian, who is presiding over Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ongoing racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking trial, warned the music mogul that he would be kicked out of the courtroom if he continued to nod at the jury.
“Absolutely unacceptable,” Judge Subramanian said during one of the trial’s lunch breaks on Thursday, per AP News. At the time, he told Combs’ lawyers that he saw Combs looking at the jury and “nodding vigorously” during the cross-examination of Bryana “Bana” Bongolan, one of the several witnesses who claims they have experienced violence from Combs.
Judge Subramanian warned the defense that if Combs pulled the behavior again, it could “result in the exclusion” of their client “from the courtroom.”
“It cannot happen again,” the judge said to attorney Marc Agnifilo, who agreed to the instruction. “There should be no efforts whatsoever to have an interaction with this jury.”
During the trial, the defense questioned Bongolan about her accusation that Combs once held her over the railing of a high-rise balcony. She explained that the incident, which allegedly took place in September 2016, happened while she was sleeping over at his ex-girlfriend Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura’s home when Combs came in in a rage and assaulted her. She stated that she was left with mental and physical scars. However, Combs’ legal team accused her making the attack up by presenting a receipt that seemingly shows that Combs was on tour in New York at the time of the event.
This is the fourth week of Combs’ trial, which is taking place in a courtroom in the Southern District Court of New York in downtown Manhattan.
