Diddy Trial Jury Begins Deliberations After Judge Delivers Instructions

Jurors in the federal criminal trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs in NYC are now deliberating after receiving instructions from Judge Arun Subramanian for more than an hour Monday morning.

After the jury of eight men and four women was seated, Subramanian went through each of the charges as the gallery looked on ... telling jurors "Actions may speak louder than words."

The judge told jurors they should decide for themselves how credible they found each witness ... "The evidence is the testimony," he said while reminding the jurors to take note of the acts of everyone they considered to be participants in the events presented.

Diddy is charged with racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He's pleaded not guilty to all charges.

After seven weeks of testimony, including from ex-girlfriends and former employees, the defense and prosecution teams rested their cases Friday. Diddy declined to testify during the trial, and the defense did not call any witnesses, after closely cross-examining each of the prosecution's witnesses.

The judge told the jury that witnesses who were given immunity should be "examined with greater care" than ordinary witnesses.

He also noted ... "Certain witnesses were permitted to be identified by pseudonyms" -- referring to "Jane" and "Mia" -- and "That should bear on your evaluation of credibility."

Judge Subramanian pointed out, "The defendant had no responsibility to testify, and he did not. You must not attach any significance to that."

The judge also addressed related activities brought up in the trial, including arson, bribery, witness tampering and distribution of narcotics. And he noted charts and summaries won't be available in the jury room ... though each juror will have a copy of the judge's instructions with them.