Crime & Arrests

Judge Mathis is reacting to the verdict in the Diddy trial ... and he's calling for Diddy to be sentenced like anyone else would.

We got the Judge at Mountain Gate Golf Course on Wednesday and asked him about Diddy skating on the most serious charges in his racketeering and sex trafficking case.

Judge Mathis says he never thought the RICO charge made sense and the sex trafficking counts were questionable ... though he feels for Cassie and all the abuse she suffered.

A New Jersey man was met with a swift dose of karma to the face on his recent Florida-bound Frontier Airlines flight after allegedly attacking another passenger ... for absolutely no reason.

Part of the wild altercation was caught on video ... and it shows 21-year-old Ishaan Sharma in a physical struggle with the passenger behind him as onlookers urge the men to cut it out. Once the travelers cool off ... Sharma packs up his belongings like nothing even happened!

But the shiner on his face tells another story -- just check out the booking photo TMZ obtained from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office ... Sharma's left eye is swollen and bruised, and there are several lacerations on his neck and next to his eye.

An alternate juror on Diddy's case has spoken out -- and says he agrees with the surprising verdict confirmed Wednesday that acquitted the musician of the most serious charges the federal government leveraged against him.

The unnamed juror sat down with CNN Thursday ... and he says his 350 pages of "copious" notes led him to agree with the jury that Diddy did not commit any sex trafficking or racketeering crimes.

Remember ... he was only convicted of the 2 lesser charges of transporting prostitutes for sex.

Mark Geragos is going out on a limb and taking a stab at how long Diddy will spend behind bars for his recent conviction on prostitution charges ... and if he's right, Diddy will be a free man sooner rather than later.

Harvey Levin and Mark examined the next steps in the Diddy case Wednesday on the "2 Angry Men" podcast ... and the famed defense attorney explained why he thinks the judge will sentence Diddy to between 12 and 18 months behind bars.

Diddy's already spent almost 10 months in jail and he's still in custody pending sentencing ... and his time served will go towards his sentence.

The Diddy trial is mostly in the books after the jury acquitted him of the most serious charges -- racketeering and sex trafficking -- and prosecutors are coming out looking like huge losers.

Diddy learned his fate Wednesday when a jury of his peers reached a verdict in his criminal case ... and they only found him guilty on a pair of lesser charges ... two counts of the Mann Act -- transportation for prostitution across state lines.

The Bad Boy Records founder skated on the bigger charges and there's no way prosecutors would have brought this case if all they had on Diddy was a prostitution offense.

Idaho's Death Row is home to 9 prisoners convicted of murder ... and Bryan Kohberger might have been the 10th -- if he hadn't cut a plea deal with prosecutors in the face of overwhelming evidence against him.

And get this ... Kohberger would have been the worst of the worst in terms of body count compared with the other condemned inmates, but his life's been spared.

As everyone knows, Kohberger's heinous killing spree claimed the lives of 4 University of Idaho students who were found butchered inside an off-campus house in 2022. TMZ did a little digging and uncovered some interesting facts about Idaho's Death Row.

Diddy might be headed off to prison, but his image will recover given a little time ... so says prominent defense lawyer Jose Baez.

The lawyer who repped Casey Anthony and Aaron Hernandez joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday -- hours after Diddy was found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and not guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking.

Jose says Diddy's going to "bounce back" from this ... especially in the music industry, where he guesses artists will be willing to overlook his convictions if it means making a hit record.

Ray J returned to "TMZ Live" on Wednesday to remind everyone he's a card-carrying member of Team Diddy -- and is even disputing the 2 fed counts Puff was found guilty of!!!

The way Ray J sees it ... Diddy was entangled in consensual freak-offs and should NOT be punished by jail time.

Prosecutors are actively arguing that Diddy is an ultraviolent menace to society -- but Ray J's predicting his homie's prison release by the end of business day, where he'll charter a plane to Miami and exhale for the 4 of July weekend!!! (We learned later in the day the judge denied bail, and Diddy will remain locked up until his sentencing hearing, scheduled for October.)

Joe Tacopina is taking a victory lap at the expense of federal prosecutors ... because he's always said the racketeering and sex trafficking charges against Diddy didn't add up -- and a jury agreed.

The famous defense attorney joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and ripped prosecutors for bringing what he says were trumped-up charges against Diddy.

Joe, who's been banging this drum for months now on our weekly series on Tubi, "TMZ Presents: United States V. Sean Combs: Inside the Diddy Trial," says the evidence and testimony never pointed towards racketeering or sex trafficking.

Cassie's worried about what Diddy might do to her if the judge lets him out on bail prior to his sentencing ... and, she's asking the judge to make sure she never finds out.

The singer-songwriter submitted a letter to the court Wednesday requesting the judge not allow Diddy to head back into the world before he's sentenced for his conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

Cassie and her attorney, Douglas Wigdor, say Diddy is "likely to pose a danger to the victims who testified in this case" -- including Cassie herself.

Funk Flex isn't letting Cassie off the hook despite her immunity in Diddy's RICO trial ... considering the "Me & U" singer received a huge payout in exchange for her silence years ago!!!

On Wednesday, the Hot 97 disc jock exploded on Cassie and her attorneys ... picking apart her "victim" label, while also acknowledging she and her family experienced a hardship.

Flex recalls seeing Cassie give off good energy at a young age, but thinks the lines blurred once her relationship with Diddy got underway.

Diddy's supporters are beginning to draw lines in the sand -- and Jay Electronica's standing firmly on the side that wants the Bad Boy mogul free ASAP!!!

TMZ Hip Hop linked up with Jay-E on Wednesday as he casually blended in amid the calamity outside the courthouse in Manhattan ... although his two huge Great Danes most definitely stood out!!!

His reaction was tamer than most -- Jay's mostly a man of few words, but he tells us he was outside the building to support his longtime pal Diddy, and he never had a doubt his boy would come out on top.

Diddy's son Christian "King" Combs was bursting with energy after learning his dad was acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking charges, and burned off his excitement with a round of push-ups!!!

KC was spotted a couple blocks away from the courtroom after the verdict on Wednesday, and you can see him beaming with enthusiasm as he thanked fans for their thoughts and prayers.

You can also hear the sounds of his recently released joint EP with Kanye West, "Never Stop" ... a project that has new meaning now that Diddy could be coming home soon if he's granted bail.

Prosecutors are vehemently opposed to letting Diddy out on bond ... they say his convictions for the Mann Act make him a violent criminal.

The feds just fired off a letter to Judge Arun Subramanian outlining the reasons why they say he should remain in custody pending sentencing for his conviction on two counts of transportation of prostitutes across state lines.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, prosecutors say Diddy is trying to use the Bail Reform Act to get released on bail pending sentencing ... but they say detention is mandatory for Diddy based on the crimes for which he was found guilty.

Bryan Kohberger appeared in court to make his controversial plea deal legal in the eyes of the law ... admitting guilt to four murders -- and, the judge has signed off on the plea.

The judge began proceedings Wednesday by asking for people in the courtroom not to be disruptive ... and, he chastised the public for calling his office to dispute the plea deal. He said he hasn't read or listened to any of the messages left at his office.

Kohberger stood up in the courtroom and was sworn in by the clerk, and said "yes" when asked if he's pleading guilty because he's actually guilty and not just to avoid the death penalty.

Diddy had a message for his family after skating on the most serious charges in his criminal trial ... "I'm coming home."

After the not guilty verdicts for racketeering and sex trafficking were read in court Wednesday, Diddy turned around in his seat and nodded to his family and told them he would see them soon.

Diddy's mom, Janice Combs, was seated behind him in the gallery ... along with his three daughters and his sons Christian, Justin and Quincy ... plus Dana Tran, the mother of his youngest child, and a bunch of extended family members.