New York, NY - Diddy‘s sex trafficking trial is set to begin today (May 5) with jury selection.
The Bad Boy Records founder has been held at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since he was first arrested last September last year after being denied bail on multiple occasions.
Jury selection for the highly-publicized case is expected to last around a week with opening statements tentatively scheduled for May 12.
It is then thought that the actual trial will last for between eight to ten weeks
Diddy has pleaded not guilty to all counts and has repeatedly insisted that all sexual activity was consensual.
Diddy recently won the right to dress as he pleases in court.
Rather than wear prison overalls, the record executive petitioned the court to be allowed to wear a suit throughout the trial.
Per court documents, Diddy has been granted permission to have five button-down shirts, five pairs of pants, five sweaters, five pairs of socks and two pairs of shoes without laces to wear to court.
During the various hearings Diddy has been forced to attend in the lead up to the trial, the record executive has been seen wearing his prison uniform.
Diddy also turned down a plea deal from the government in favor of taking his case to trial.
During a recent hearing, Diddy was asked by the judge if he had rejected a plea deal from prosecutors with the rapper and producer replying: “Yes, I did.”
He also accepted that the decision could lead to a lengthier prison sentence if he was found guilty by the jury. It was not revealed what the terms of the offer were.
Diddy has claimed that he simply goes by the swinger lifestyle as he defends himself from sex trafficking accusations.
His lawyer Marc Agnifilo said: “There’s a lifestyle, call it swingers or whatever you will, that he thought was appropriate because it was common. Many people think it’s appropriate because it’s common.”
Prosecutors also lobbied the judge to allow them to use the testimony of an alleged victim who claims they underwent a “medical procedure” that has a connection to the sex trafficking allegations.
Prosecutors did not reveal the nature of the procedure and the judge has not yet ruled on whether their testimony will be allowed.
Dave Mustaine has chosen to bring Megadeth to an end after completing one final tour due to ongoing health challenges.
The band plans to step away next year once they wrap up their farewell run and release their final album. Frontman Dave, 64, has now shared that he reached this decision because arthritis and issues with his back have left him “unable to give a hundred per cent every night”.
Speaking on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, Dave said, “It had been building up for a long time, just physical things happening with my hands … My hands were starting to fail me.
“And there were other difficulties tied to everything going on with my neck and my trunk. That whole area has arthritis and some bulging discs.
“I have a fractured lumbar bone. And of course, my back has been fused near my shoulders and neck. There is just a lot going on …
“I always said that when the time came where I could no longer give a hundred per cent each night, that would be the moment I would start thinking about slowing down.”
He continued by sharing that the choice became clear after the band completed recording their final self-titled project.
Dave explained, “It was not that I couldn’t give a hundred per cent, because we finished the album and I feel we did well with it, but while we were working I had a moment where I told my manager … ‘I am not sure how much longer I can continue. My hands are really hurting.’
“I did not intend to set things in motion. I was just talking, but it led to conversations with the band, then taking time to reflect, speaking with my family, and praying about it.
“And the answer was obvious to me that by the time the album was finished, I would know how it would perform. If it does really well, I can still deliver one final strong tour.
“And the idea of a farewell feels connected to that. We have certain shows we want to play so we can say goodbye to the people who have supported us.”
Dave added, “We are an American band, but we perform all over the world. We are not weekend performers like some country acts in the States. We have a lot of ground to cover if we want to say goodbye the right way.”
The band’s seventeenth studio album, Megadeth, will arrive in January, and their This Was Our Life tour begins in Canada in February.
