Crime & Arrests

The jury room on the 26th floor of the Patrick Moynihan Federal Courthouse has the feel of a multimillion-dollar Manhattan penthouse apartment ... this is where 12 jurors and 6 alternates report for duty each day before going into the courtroom to hear testimony in the case of Sean "Diddy" Combs.

Staffers from the Executive Administrator’s Office at the SDNY United States Courts gave TMZ a tour.

The courtroom is one of six “special proceedings” courtrooms inside the courthouse in Lower Manhattan. The courtroom carpet is blue with a gold pattern -- an original from 1995, when the building opened.

A huge debate is brewing in the Diddy trial that threatens to derail the prosecution's case — and now the judge must decide whether to grant a mistrial.

We'd like you — our loyal readers — to weigh in before the big decision comes down. So, we've put together a little poll for you to vote yea or nay on this very question of a mistrial.

But first ... here's the back story so you can make an informed choice.

The military vet who allegedly killed his 3 daughters in Washington state is still at large — and police have released new photos of him in an attempt to find him.

On Saturday night, the Chelan County Sheriff's Office issued a wanted poster with some fresh pics of murder suspect Travis Decker.

One of the new photos captures Decker walking in a t-shirt, shorts and sandals, and another we've seen before shows Decker walking inside a building with a goatee and sunglasses resting atop his head. The last couple photos highlight tattoos on his arms and another shows his Converse sneakers.

Diddy's asking the judge in his case for a mistrial again ... accusing prosecutors of presenting testimony they knew -- or should've known -- was false.

The rapper and mogul's legal team filed the letter Saturday morning ... and, the reasons for their request are related to testimony about the alleged incident where Bryana Bongolan -- a friend of Cassie's and fashion designer -- says Diddy held her over the edge of a balcony, 17 stories in the air.

Diddy's lawyers say prosecutors presented untrue testimony when Cassie testified about the incident because she said she actually saw Diddy holding Bryana over the balcony's edge.

Diddy faced accusations of dangling a woman off a balcony during his trial this week ... with the prosecution entering photos of her alleged injuries -- though the defense countered the claims.

Bryana Bongolan -- a fashion designer and friend of Cassie's -- testified that Diddy stormed into Cassie's apartment one night. While Bongolan was out on the balcony, either smoking a blunt or about to, she says Diddy grabbed her and held her over the balcony.

She alleges he screamed ... "You know what the f*** you did" at her before she says he pulled her back onto the balcony and slammed her into some furniture.

Bill Maher's not apologizing to people who hated his recent comments about Cassie ... standing by his argument she essentially made a deal with the devil for fame.

The comedian and talk show host joined us on "TMZ Presents: United States V. Sean Combs: Inside the Diddy Trial" ... and, he says he wasn't trying to say Cassie was 100% consenting to freak-offs with her texts -- and, he can see why an abuse victim might send a follow-up message about their enjoyment of the experience to their abuser.

Bill says a lot has changed since the #MeToo movement ... but, he knows people who are in abusive relationships with powerful men may still try to at least get ahead professionally if they were being put through such abuse.

Kelvin Joseph Jr. -- a once-promising young NFL player -- has been arrested in Texas in connection with a fatal crash.

The former Dallas Cowboys cornerback was taken into custody Saturday morning after an accident left a 27-year-old motorcycle rider dead in Richardson, Texas.

According to an explanation on the Richardson Police Department Facebook page ... officers were called to the scene of a crash at approximately 5 AM this morning, where they found Cody Morris of Plano, Texas, deceased. There was not another vehicle there.

Lori Vallow Daybell -- better known as the "Doomsday mom" -- gave the judge too much lip during her murder conspiracy trial Friday -- and she got booted right out of the courtroom!

Daybell -- serving 3 life terms for killing her son, daughter and conspiring to kill her fifth husband's ex-wife -- was back in an Arizona courtroom to face an attempted murder charge after she allegedly tried to whack her niece's ex-husband. She also faces another life sentence after she was convicted in April of conspiring to kill another one of her ex-husbands.

During Friday's trial, Daybell -- who's representing herself -- sat at the defense table and, at one point, argued with Judge Justin Beresky over the prosecutors bringing up her previous convictions.

Diddy was apparently about to ghost his then-girlfriend if she didn't "get back on her "job" ... calling her out in an annoyed voice message played for the jury in his federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial in NYC Friday.

"Jane" -- Diddy's ex who is testifying under a pseudonym -- was back on the stand for a second day of direct examination Friday ... and, prosecutors introduced several voice messages they say the mogul sent to her.

One voice message begins with Diddy telling Jane he's about to up and disappear on her ... because she might be giving him the silent treatment, but he isn't going to play games with her.

Diddy's ex-girlfriend "Jane" continued her testimony Friday, saying she was too sore to keep having sex during a "hotel night" -- the term she and Diddy called freak-offs -- which she says sparked a heated confrontation in which the music mogul demanded an apology, after she tossed a bracelet.

Jane -- the pseudonym for one of Diddy's exes on the witness stand -- testified about the shocking incident during Day 18 of Diddy's federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial in NYC, saying it all went down in a hotel room in Turks and Caicos.

She said she was wearing one of her "outfits" for yet another round of freak-off sex ... but she just couldn't handle it anymore.

Diddy's ex-girlfriend is testifying about the pain she says she went through during her relationship with the mogul ... saying she had to fight off multiple infections and other ailments.

"Jane" -- the pseudonym one of Diddy's exes is using on the stand -- has run the court through the many freak-offs she says she participated in ... telling the jury she kept doing them because she loved Diddy and wanted to make him happy.

Jane even says she got a nipple piercing for Diddy because she says he told her it would turn him on if she did.

Diddy's ex-girlfriend says even feds raiding two of his residences didn't stop the "freak-offs" ... 'cause she says one of the last ones she last participated in was in August 2024 -- about a month before he was arrested.

"Jane" is back on the stand for her second day of testimony ... and, prosecutors went through the entertainers she said she had sex with during "hotel nights" -- the name she and Diddy gave to their freak-offs.

Jane ran through the last time she says she had sex with these people ... and, when it came to Don -- the man she says took part in her first freak-off with Diddy -- she says they last hooked up in August 2024.

Diddy's ex-girlfriend "Jane" is testifying in detail about how she says the freak-offs worked during their 4-year relationship ... zeroing in on a male escort with whom she says they routinely hooked up with and paid for his services.

Jane - the pseudonym for one of Diddy's exes on the witness stand -- was taking questions from the prosecution on Day 18 of the Diddy trial ... and she brought up a man known as "Sly."

She said she and Diddy were impressed by images of "Sly's size," prompting her to reach out to him via Instagram.

Diddy's ex says she took substances to push through the "freak-offs" she participated in ... using ecstasy to up her energy -- and to numb the whole experience.

"Jane" -- Diddy's ex-girlfriend who is testifying under a pseudonym -- broke down the role drugs played in her sexual encounters with entertainers she calls "hotel nights," the couple's name for freak-offs, which didn't always take place in hotels. She admitted there were a ton of different drugs at these experiences, though she mostly stuck with using ecstasy.

When asked how ecstasy made her feel, Jane replied it gave her sexual energy ... much-needed since she's already testified that sometimes she would have sex for multiple rounds and hours at a time.

Sean "Diddy" Combs' federal sex trafficking and racketeering 18th day of testimony resumed with "Jane" returning to the stand ... she told the jury about her reluctance to participate in alleged "hotel nights" -- their term for freak-offs.

You'll recall, "Jane" -- who is testifying under a pseudonym -- said she's a former girlfriend of Diddy's and was in a relationship with him from around 2021 until the music mogul was arrested in September. In the federal indictment, she's listed as "Victim-2."

On the stand Friday , she continued to field questions from prosecutors about her sexual relations with Diddy ... telling the jury they used the word "entertainers" to refer to male prostitutes who joined them during marathon drug-fueled multi-partner sex sessions, the so-called "freak-offs" mentioned throughout the trial. Jane testified Thursday the two of them called these sessions "hotel nights" ... though they were not always held at hotels.

The alleged victim in the bizarre crypto kidnap-torture case is starring in yet another short film  -- but this time it's no sex tape ... but rather a new video of his daring escape from the "House of Horrors" in NYC.

TMZ obtained exclusive footage of Italian entrepreneur Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan hightailing it down a sidewalk in Manhattan's posh Nolita neighborhood after he broke out of the townhouse his alleged captors, John Woeltz and William Duplessie, were renting. Cops say the three men were business partners in a Bitcoin venture.

The video -- dated May 23 -- starts off with a uniformed NYPD traffic enforcement agent strolling down the sidewalk, followed by Carturan -- clad in a black outfit with no shoes on -- frantically running up behind him.