Potential jurors in the trial of fallen hip hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs face a grilling by his legal team and government prosecutors over their suitability to judge his guilt or innocence.

And in revealing clues over upcoming testimony, DailyMail.com can disclose some of those bombshell questions that they will be asked to determine if they make it to the 12-person panel.

Many revolve around attitudes to the sensational sex trafficking and racketeering crimes 55-year-old Combs is accused of – and their views on the hip hop industry in general.

About 150 potential jurors are in the pool for selection beginning today in a Manhattan courtroom, with the intention to whittle that down to 45 before the final pick following days of minute scrutiny.

Diddy is accused in a 17-page indictment of a 20-year-old rein of abuse against women, including making them take part in drug-fueled performances with male sex workers that he dubbed ‘freak offs’.

All the potential jurors are reportedly from Diddy’s home city of New York and must answer pre-screening questions on their general background and preliminary information. 

Jury selection has begun in the sex trafficking trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs on May 5

Combs has been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transporting to engage in prostitution

Those who go through are then grilled by lawyers in a process called voir dire. 

According to documents obtained by DailyMail.com, prosecutors from the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, will laser focus voir dire questions that include:

1. You may hear evidence in this case relating to the payment of commercial sex workers in exchange for sex. Do you have any feelings, beliefs, or experiences relating to prostitution and the enforcement of laws around prostitution that could affect your ability to be fair and impartial in this case?
2. You may hear evidence relating to firearms. Do you have any feelings, beliefs, or experiences about guns and the enforcement of gun laws that could affect your ability to be fair and impartial in this case?
3. You may hear evidence relating to the distribution and use of illegal drugs. Do you have any feelings, beliefs, or experiences relating to illegal drugs, the enforcement of drug laws, drug use, or drug addiction that could affect your ability to be fair and impartial in this case?
4. You may hear testimony from witnesses who are alleged victims of sexual assault, sexual abuse, and/or sex trafficking. Would you have any difficulty assessing the credibility of such a witness just like you would any other witness?

The attorneys also want to know if a potential juror has strong feelings about witnesses testifying after being given immunity from prosecution.

The potential jurors who go through the pre-screening process are then grilled by lawyers in a process called voir dire, from both sides 

In the defense’s proposed voir dire questions (pictured) Diddy’s lawyers ask about the kind of music the potential juror likes and if they have any opinion about ‘the hip hop rap music industry or artists in that genre’

 

They also say some witnesses may be referred to in open court under a pseudonym to protect their identity – but the true ID will be revealed to the eventually selected jury at the right time.

Prosecutors want to know if someone testifying under a false name in public makes them less believable.

Clearly referring to federal agent raids on Diddy’s multi-million mansion in Los Angeles and waterfront home on Miami Beach’s exclusive Star Island in March last year, prosecutors will ask for attitudes to grabbing evidence from personal electronic devices such as phones.

Question: You may hear testimony in this case that law enforcement officers recovered certain evidence from cellular telephone records and iCloud accounts. These searches were perfectly legal. Do you have any feelings, beliefs, or experiences regarding such searches by law enforcement that would influence your ability to evaluate this testimony fairly and impartially?

Combs’s attorneys Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos point to salacious details in their voir dire queries that include:

Question: There may be evidence in this case about people engaging in sexual relations with multiple sexual partners. Would hearing about that type of evidence be difficult for you?

Diddy appeared dressed up in a suit, a change from his usual prison issued scrubs, for the first day of jury selection on Monday

Combs’s defense attorney Brian Steel arrives at the Southern District of New York Federal Court, as jury selection begins

Outside the Southern District of New York Federal Court, crowds gathered in anticipation of the trial’s opening, following months of pre-trial motions and a denied request for delay from Diddy’s legal team

Question: There may be evidence that people cheating on girlfriends or boyfriends with other individuals. Would hearing about that type of evidence affect our ability to serve as a fair and impartial juror in this case?

They also want to know what kind of music the potential juror likes and if they have any opinion about ‘the hip hop rap music industry or artists in that genre’?

Specifically, they want to know: The defendant in this case is a wealthy celebrity. Do you have an opinions regarding wealth individuals that would affect your ability to serve… do you believe that wealthy people get away with things that the less wealthy do not?

In their draft questionnaire for the pre-selection questions, they also ask: The charges in this case involve allegations of kidnapping, arson, bribery of a witness, obstruction of justice, drug distribution, forced labor, sex trafficking, and transportation for purposes of engaging in prostitution. Is there anything about the nature of these allegations that would make it difficult for you to be fair and impartial?

However, the bulk of the pre-selection questions on both sides revolve around whether a potential juror has more general biases, any conditions that would stop them serving or that serving would give them financial hardship.

They also ask if any potential juror has been a sex assault victim or been accused of sexual assault.

A supporter of Combs wearing a ‘Free Puff’ sweatshirt arrives for the start of the trial at Manhattan Federal Court on May 5, 2025 in New York City 

Combs has been in custody since his arrest last September and has pleaded not guilty on all charges

Prosecutors also lay out the charges at the beginning of their voir dire document to be used as the questioning guide. They are:

• Count One charges that, from at least in or about 2004 through in or about 2024, the defendant participated in a racketeering conspiracy during which he agreed with other employees and associates of his businesses to commit kidnapping, arson, bribery of a witness, obstruction of justice, drug distribution, forced labor, sex trafficking, and transportation for purposes of engaging in prostitution.
• Count Two charges the defendant with sex trafficking an adult female victim through force, fraud, and coercion between in or about 2009 and in or about 2018. 
• Count Three charges the defendant with transporting that female victim and male commercial sex workers to engage in prostitution between in or about 2009 and in or about 2018.
• Count Four charges the defendant with sex trafficking a second adult female victim through force, fraud, and coercion between in or about 2021 and in or about 2024.
• Count Five charges the defendant with transporting that second female victim and male commercial sex workers to engage in prostitution between in or about 2021 and in or about 2024.

Jurors were led into court through a side door where the judge questioned them about their responses to the jury questionnaire.

All of the jurors were anonymous and only referred to by their juror number.

A young white woman in her 20s was excused by the judge after saying that hearing about sexual assault would make her ‘not comfortable’.

Another woman, aged in her 30s, was excused after writing in her questionnaire that the video of Diddy allegedly beating up his ex girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016 which was aired by CNN ‘could be damning evidence’.

Diddy’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo told the court that the statement was ‘definite’ and the ‘most important piece of evidence in this case’.

The judge excused the woman over the objections of prosecutor Maureen Comey who said they wouldn’t be using the video.

A female juror in her 60s was allowed to stay in the prospective jury pool despite admitting that she was kissed and fondled for around two years when she 16 by a dentist while working at his office. The woman said that ‘gross inappropriate behaviour happens all day long all over the world’ but insisted she could be impartial.

Another female juror in her 20s was allowed to stay in the pool after she said that she had liked a post online from a comedian who joked about baby oil being found during the raids on Diddy’s homes. ‘It was funny,’ the woman said.

By noon four jurors had been allowed to continue through the process and three had been excused.