After spending a week on hiatus, The View had a lot to catch up on when it returned to ABC this morning, including the outcome of Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ federal trial, which came to an end last week.
Combs, who pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him, was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution following an eight-week trial. However, he was acquitted on more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, which did not surprise Sunny Hostin, who was present in the courtroom for much of the trial.
Speaking of the sex trafficking charges, Hostin shared why she felt jurors chose to acquit Combs, despite hearing a testimony from his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who took the witness stand to speak out about the physical abuse she endured throughout their long-term relationship.
“It’s hard for people [to understand] because there was a long relationship with one of the victims,” Hostin said. “We’re talking about an 11-year relationship where someone is never saying no, and actually, actively agreeing to it.”
“I think with eight men on the jury and four women, what man is going to find him guilty of [sex trafficking] and understand that no is no, yes is yes, and the blurred lines between that?” she continued. “I don’t think the government did a good enough job of explaining domestic violence and how yes can mean no. They just didn’t have it.”
While Hostin felt Combs’ violation of the Mann Act—which prohibits the transportation of women and girls across state lines for prostitution—was a “slam dunk,” she had doubts that he would actually serve prison time for the guilty charges, which carry up to a 20-year sentence.
“Twenty years in prison? We didn’t even prosecute [former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer] for that very same thing,” she said. “It’s generally not used. That is something the prosecution threw in so that they could get a conviction.”
The former federal prosecutor also felt “a little dismayed” by the judge’s decision to deny Combs bail and hold him in prison until his sentencing later this year. After Ventura’s lawyers submitted a letter asking the judge to deny his bail, the judge agreed that, because of the proof of domestic violence that had been brought against the disgraced rapper, “society couldn’t be protected from him,” according to Hostin.
“I think that’s the wrong thing,” Hostin said, noting that he’s “not a flight risk” since they could’ve figured out other ways to keep Combs in the United States by confiscating his passport, his plane, and making him wear an ankle monitor.
The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic abuse, help is available. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788.