The judge presiding in the case involving Sean “Diddy” Combs said Tuesday morning that leaking information to the media will not be tolerated and could lead to someone being found in contempt of court.
Judge Arun Subramanian, referring to an article in the media, said someone violated the court’s sealing order and spoke about Friday’s private proceeding, Fox News reported.
He recounted that the defense requested the gag order. Subramanian added continued that a violation of that order “could result in contempt charges at the most extreme level.”
Subramanian said to lead counsel, Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey and defense attorney Marc Agnifilo, that they are responsible for the conduct of the teams.
“The buck stops with you…,” he said.
Subramanian said this was the sole warning he would be giving and wanted each side to affirm they would adhere to the rules of this court.
The judge’s hearing comes on the heels of a juror being dismissed because a discrepancy in the juror’s residency.
“There is nothing the juror can say at this point that can put the genie back in the bottle and repair his credibility…” the judge said in court.
Combs’ legal team asked if the juror could stay on because of his ethnicity. If not, they asked for a mistrial.
Subramanian denied the request.
“The court cannot and should not let race factor into what it should do,” Subramanian said.
