Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Combs’ lawyer Brian Steel is delivering what seems like the keynote speech for the defence team.

He’s recapping Combs’ life, saying the reason he’s in this situation today is because of "untreated trauma and a ferocious drug addiction".

He says he was harmed by early life experiences including the death of his father.

Steel says Combs did hit Cassie Ventura, "the woman he loved". He says it was just "on occasion", "not every day".

"Sean remembers every strike in his mind and he bangs his head against a wall," Steel says. "He has punished himself more than anyone will be able to punish him."

Steel says Combs has lost his businesses, his reputation and his money. His kids are now "cursed" with his name, Steele says Combs told him.

Image source, Jane Rosenberg / BBC

We have another sketch from inside court to share with you, it shows Sean "Diddy" Combs sitting with his lawyers Brian Steel and Alexandra Shapiro.

As a reminder, there are no cameras allowed inside the New York courtroom, so we rely on sketch artists to show what it looks like during hearings and trials.

Grace Eliza Goodwin
Reporting from court

Journalists, influencers, and spectators have filed back into the courthouse after the short lunch break.

Druing the break, I spoke with one content creator who’s been watching the proceedings live from inside the courtroom overflow room.

Jay, who makes videos for his 12,000 TikTok followers, tells me he was deeply moved by the statements of Sean Combs’ children in court.

"It was definitely hard," Jay says of watching the statements from Combs’ kids, several of whom cried and pleaded with the judge for leniency.

When Combs’ lawyer, Nicole Westmoreland spoke in court, Jay says he thought she gave a "powerful, emotional speech".

"A lot of people in there laughed at her because she was crying as she was defending" Jay tells me. But her tears "touched me", he says.

Image source, Jane Rosenberg / Reuters

Court artist Jane Rosenberg has just shared her the first sketch of the day.

It shows Combs with his head in his hands as he listens to his children's emotional testimonials.

His hair and beard are grey and he is wearing a light yellow sweater.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Combs is now back in the courtroom and we are about to get under way once again.

Just before the lunch break, Combs’ defence team played a video montage of the rap mogul playing with his children, delivering inspiring speeches to students, and working on his music.

The video was intended to show a more family and community oriented side of Combs, as a contrast to the testimony heard at trial. It’s unclear what impact it had on the judge but one woman in the overflow room sniffled and dabbed her eyes as it played.

At some point soon, we expect to hear from Combs himself. He did not testify in his trial, but he submitted a letter to the judge ahead of today's hearing where he said he lost his way.

We also are expecting the defence team to provide two more character testimonials, and some more of his lawyers will address the judge.

Given that we also could hear more from the prosecution, we expect the proceedings could go on for a few more hours.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Judge Arun Subramanian has been hard to read today.

During most of the lawyers’ arguments, he looked directly at the lawyers the entire time, with his hand sometimes on his chin.

A big clue to what he is thinking came when he indicated that he might follow federal guidelines for sentencing, between five to seven years in prison. He also rejected arguments from both sides, seemingly skeptical of their pushes for different sentence lengths.

But he seemed sensitive to the pleas of Combs’ children, who begged him for a lighter sentence, calling their father a "superhero" and "a changed man".

Subramanian told the children how appreciative he was of their statements, saying they would help him in his decision.

It’s unclear if the court will hear anything more from the prosecution than a statement read by an attorney on behalf of one of the victims, none of whom seemed to want to speak in court today.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

The most emotional part of the day started when Combs’ six adult children came up to the podium to speak.

They wrapped their arms around each other, rubbed each other’s backs and cried as they told the court how much they missed their father.

Combs himself appeared to be holding back tears, looking to his kids and occasionally burying his face in his hands.

He then began to cry during a video played for the court that the defence had submitted on his behalf, which included dozens of video clips of Combs with his kids. His tears appeared to flow when the video showed the funeral of his former girlfriend and the mother of many of his children, Kim Porter.

As we left the courtroom for lunch, many in Combs entourage were also in tears from the video, including one person who said “it just brings back so many memories”.

Image source, Getty Images

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

It’s been a long and emotional morning inside the courtroom, where I’m seated just a few rows behind Combs during his hearing.

The courtroom is packed with at least 30 members of Combs’ entourage, including his mother and all of his children except one.

One of his ex-girlfriends is also seated in the back row. She had made numerous allegations of abuse against Combs, but has since written letters of support in favour of Combs being released from jail.

For most of the morning, Combs maintained a non-reactive demeanour, sitting back in his seat and listening quietly as prosecutors accused him of ruining his victims’ lives.

The court is now breaking for lunch, and will resume at 14:00 local time (19:00 BST).

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Image source, Getty Images

All of Combs’ adult children just addressed the court.

Through sobs, they pleaded with the judge to send their father home.

As his daughter spoke, Combs dropped his head into his hands and wiped tears from his face.

Here’s a piece of what each of them said.

Quincy Brown, 34, Combs’ adopted son: "In front of you and in front of us is a changed man. He has evolved, something we haven’t seen in 15 years."

Justin Combs, 31, first born son: "I ask that you give my father a second chance."

Christian Combs, 27, son with late model Kim Porter: "He taught me to treat women with respect. He treated my mom like a queen."

Chance Combs, 19: "We have all felt a huge emptiness in our lives."

Jesse Combs, 18, daughter with Porter: "Your honour, he is still our dad."

Delila Combs, 18, daughter with Porter: "We can’t watch our baby sister grow up fatherless the same way we grew up motherless... Please, please give our family the chance to heal."

Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from outside court

A Diddy supporter was just handcuffed by the NYPD and put inside a police car.

Word is that he allegedly broke someone’s laptop, but there are some people protesting this version of events - saying the police are being unfair

I just came out of the courthouse and the inside and outside scenes could not be more different.

Queues and courtrooms are pretty orderly inside, while outside is a bit chaotic with scores of people milling about and some shouting at the top of their voices.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

One of the defence lawyers, Nicole Westmoreland, grew visibly emotional as she spoke to the judge about Comb’s contributions to society.

"Mr Combs personally inspired me," she says, recounting a speech she heard him give in Washington several years ago.

We can hear her sniffle and choke back tears.

Combs has "made some mistakes," Westmoreland says, "but how many of us can say we helped so many lives."

She also talks about Combs’ founding a record label and clothing line, which she said inspired other Black entrepreneurs and musicians.

After spending 13 months in jail, she says Combs is "remorseful".

"Your honour, he gets it, simply put," Westmoreland tells the judge.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

"Sean Combs is not a pimp."

That was the central message of Jason Driscoll, the first of Combs’ attorneys to address the judge today.

Driscoll says Combs’ case has "serious disparities" with other cases where the Mann Act has been used.

The main difference, he says, is money.

"All pimps share one aggravating factor," he says. "They make money."

He cites other cases where defendants made money from trafficking women and got lower sentences than what the government is recommending.

Prosecutors "basically blamed Sean Combs for having a drug addiction for 25 years", he says.

Reminder: the Mann Act, passed in 1910, criminalised transporting women and girls for "the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose."

Prosecutor Christy Slavik says Combs has already lined up speaking engagements starting next week, which she called the "height of hubris" in the face of today's sentencing.

We tracked down what she was referring to.

One of the letters of support for Combs comes from the head of the nonprofit organisation RE Entry One, which is based in Florida and works with the private prison company GEO Group, Inc.

Executive Director Giovanni Sairras writes that Combs has been scheduled to teach entrepreneurship and life skills classes in "underserved neighborhoods such as Little Haiti," starting on Monday.

He is scheduled to speak at Miami North Work Release Center on 6 October, followed by Sprouting to Success School in Miami Gardens on 14 October.

In his own letter to the judge, Combs said he had been guiding fellow inmates through a programme he designed called "Free Game."

"His influence and ability to connect with justice-impacted individuals is uniquely powerful," Sairras wrote

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

One of the mysteries of the Diddy trial was what had happened to "Victim-3" in the indictment. Prosecutors said she had disappeared and would no longer be called to testify, despite being referred to often in the trial as "Gina."

Well, now Gina, or Virginia Huynh, has written to the judge. She said she cooperated fully with prosecutors and during those meetings, she felt "pressured to feel like a victim".

She tells the judge that she told them she wasn't, but prosecutors insisted that she was.

"I was not trafficked. I did not engage in prostitution with him or others. That would have been my testimony if called to the stand," she wrote.

She also told the judge that she was fully prepared to testify, but was informed by her lawyer that she would not be called to take the stand. She also maintains that Diddy never once reached out to her throughout the process.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Prosecutors are continuing to lay out their case for an 11-year minimum sentence, which they argue is appropriate for the severity of his actions. That would mean Combs could be in prison until he's at least 65 years old (he's already served 12 months in jail).

A lighter sentence would "let the defendant get away with years of domestic violence and abuse," Christy Slavik says.

Citing victim statements and testimony from Cassie and Jane Doe, who said that they experienced domestic violence during their relationship with Combs, she reminds the judge of photos the court saw of the two women's injuries they say Combs inflicted.

"He didn’t need the money, his currency was control," the prosecutor says. "This is a defendant who will pose a danger at any age."

Judge Subramanian says the advisory guidelines suggest a sentencing of 70-87 months in jail. That's about six to seven years.

Subramanian says he sees no reason to depart from the sentencing guidelines, giving us the first clear indication of what Diddy's prison time could look like.

The prosection has argued for a harsher sentence of more than 11 years, while the defence is requesting 14 months. Diddy has already served just over 12 months in jail, which would be subtracted from whatever his final punishment is.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Prosecutor Christy Slavik is now speaking on behalf of the government.

"Today is about accountability and justice," she says.

The defence has tried to paint Combs conviction as just a side effect of a "sex, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle", but it’s more than that, she goes on.

"This isn’t just a case about sex," she says. "It’s a case about real victims who suffered real harm at the hands of the defendant."

Slavik reiterates that the government recommends a sentence of 135 months (just over 11 years), saying it adequately addresses the separate harms to Cassie Ventura and Jane (who testified under a pseudonym).

"The defendant admitted to violence," she says and urges the judge to consider that this case is about more than just so-called "freak offs".

Grace Eliza Goodwin
Reporting from outside court

I spoke to a man named Zachary who’s staying in front of the courthouse for the day in anticipation of learning Combs’ sentence.

Zachary tells me he wanted to be here as a fan of hip-hop and Combs’ music, but not necessarily as a fan of Combs himself.

He says he’s just hoping for a fair sentence, and not the 11 years the prosecution is seeking. He says he thinks it would be fair for Combs to get a two-year sentence or "time served", which would mean Combs is released following the 12 months he’s already spent in jail.

A man named Prince tells me he’s outside the courthouse today to support Combs’ children, who he says don’t deserve to grow up without a father.

"I don't care how much money they have, how successful they are. You're nothing without your parents," he says.

Prince tells me he grew up without a father so he knows what it’s like to not have that fatherly guidance and nurture. But, he adds, he also feels for Combs’ victims.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Federal judges have to work within a designated set of guidelines when issuing sentences.

Sentences can be made more severe with certain "enhancements", or increased penalties, that a judge applies based on a convicted person's conduct while committing the crime.

Right now, Combs’ side is trying to eliminate as many enhancements as possible, while government prosecutors are trying to add them, by raising objections.

The judge has overruled objections from both parties. But notably, he overruled Combs’ request to not consider conduct that was part of the charge against him for alleged sex trafficking - for which Combs was acquitted. The judge has also overruled his request not to consider "coercion" when calculating a sentence.

Cassie Ventura and "Jane Doe" were both victims, the judge said. He added that Combs’ threats to release videos of Cassie participating in "freak-offs" and to not pay housing costs for "Jane" if she did not go along with hotel nights qualified as coercion.

We just reported that the victim who testified against Combs anonymously, using the name "Mia" will not speak to the court today, citing a letter his defence team submitted about her earlier this week.

The letter to the judge cites the Enlightenment, the history of the judicial process, and, in the last line, accuses her of wanting to "further sully these proceedings".

It primarily - and repeatedly - criticises her for using a "fake identity" to testify and accuses her of lying.

"She got to lie, she got to testify with a false identity, she got to try out her fake voice for a jury of savvy New Yorkers," the letter claims. "But, she also saw the consequences of lying to a jury: they don’t believe you."

The prosecution called the letter "bullying", and the judge said it was "inappropriate" and told the defence not to do it again.