Diddy Thanks Judge Before Defense Rests Case In Criminal Trial

Rare moment in the Diddy criminal trial ... the music mogul just spoke up in court ... telling the judge how he's feeling, thanking him for doing a good job, and confirming his decision NOT to take the stand before his defense rested their case.

The brief exchange Tuesday started with Judge Arun Subramanian asking Diddy how he was feeling.

Diddy said, "I'm doing great, your honor. I've been wanting to tell you thank you, you're doing an excellent job."

The judge thanked Diddy for the comment and asked if he understood the decision not to take the stand was his and his alone. Diddy responded that he thoroughly discussed with his lawyers whether or not to testify and ultimately decided against testifying.

Diddy taking the stand was always a long shot because it would have been a huge risk for his defense to allow him to be cross-examined by prosecutors ... even though his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, told us before the trial he didn't think he could keep Diddy off the stand.

We haven't heard much from Diddy at all during the 8-week-long trial ... and this was by far the most he's said in court.