It wasn’t just about believing women, as many would want to boil this down to.
In fact, an alternate juror came forward explaining that he did believe the witnesses, but that wasn’t the issue. It came down to the high burden of proof, which was a necessity to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt, and the defense was able to shed just enough doubt on the claims.
…
Proving sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy is notoriously difficult. Prosecutors asserted that they had all the evidence they needed, but their evidence only underscored abuse allegations, leaving sex trafficking to feel a bit out of reach… RICO certainly proved to be, according to experts.
John W. Day, trial attorney and former Deputy District Attorney in Northern New Mexico told me, “RICO was designed for mob prosecutions for crime organization that engaged in traditional organized crime activity. This could have been a stretch for the prosecutors to convince jurors that Diddy’s high flying world was the equivalent of a crime mob.”
If they had pursued ‘lesser charges,’ Diddy’s sentencing could have hit higher than the potential (and unlikely) max of 20 years. Battery, sexual assault, domestic violence, rape, and other charges are far easier to prove. They had the evidence of domestic violence, so much so that the defense even admitted to it. (His team still maintains that Diddy has not sexual assaulted or raped anyone.)
Due to their choice to pursue the higher charges, Diddy will likely walk free at some point as an abuser in the world who can potentially reclaim his podium of power. After all, he still has fans who will turn up for him as proven by the celebrations in the streets following his acquittal. They celebrated, by the way, by dousing each other in baby oil.
