Judge Arun Subramanian called together prosecution and defense parties in Sean Combs’ sex trafficking trial early Tuesday and threatened possible sanctions regarding an unspecified published article, which he said violated the court’s gag order.
An article, the origin of which was not specified, allegedly contained information that Subramanian said “necessarily involved the court’s sealing order.”
The judge sealed the courtroom briefly on Friday to discuss an issue concerning a juror, separate from the former juror No. 6, who was excused for what Subramanian said were “serious concerns as to the juror’s candor” when questioned prior to his selection. In a subsequent letter, portions of which were redacted, prosecutors said the issue with the second juror involves “communications with his former colleague” over his jury service.
When federal prosecutors and Combs’ defense attorneys claimed ignorance, Subramanian declared, “Someone’s lying.”
The judge said a violation of his sealing orders or his gag order “may result in civil and criminal contempt charges.” He pledged to “swiftly investigate and punish any violations that take place.”
Subramanian said he held lead counsel — Maurene Comey for the government and Marc Agnifilo for the defense — personally responsible for the conduct of their teams.
“There’s no passing the buck anymore. The buck stops with you. If anything happens then lead counsel is responsible,” Subramanian said. “If a judge in this court were to write an opinion documenting lead counsel’s violation of court’s orders, that would be a bad thing.”
Subramanian also threatened to compel the attorneys to testify in a court and to conduct an examination of their electronic devices.
“This is the only warning I will give,” the judge said.
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