IS THE CASE AGAINST DIDDY STRONG ENOUGH?

The horrific allegations made against Sean "Diddy" Combs in his sex trafficking trial have ruined his reputation and destroyed his hip-hop legacy-but experts aren't convinced they'll land him in jail

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Over the course of four weeks, witnesses for the prosecution in the trial against Sean “Diddy” Combs have painted a picture of a monster — an abusive figure fixated on power and control, willing to do whatever it takes to bend victims to his will. His ex Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, then eight months pregnant, tearfully recalled being beaten and forced to have sex with male escorts for days on end. A former assistant claimed Diddy raped her multiple times. Another former employee said he kidnapped her at gunpoint, and rapper Kid Cudi testified that Diddy broke into his house and set his Porsche on fire after discovering he'd been involved with Ventura.

There’s no doubt the allegations are shocking and disturbing. However, it’s less certain whether or not they're enough to convict the disgraced music mogul, 55. Diddy was arrested in September and faces five federal charges: one count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a max sentence of life in prison; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, which carries a max sentence of life in prison and a minimum sentence of 15 years; and two counts transportation to engage in prostitution, which carries a max sentence of 10 years in prison. (He has denied all charges.) Upon Diddy’s arrest, his lawyer Marc Agnifilo told Us in a statement that the father of seven “is an imperfect person but is not criminal.”

The prosecution has to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Diddy is the leader of a criminal enterprise whose members engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice through the use of violence, threats and coercion. It’s going to be a heavy lift, says criminal attorney Joshua Ritter. “Everything that’s been described by Cassie is deviant and appalling, but it’s not necessarily criminal,” he tells