Race will almost inevitably play a part in the prosecution of Diddy, and his defense team is banking on jurors focusing on why prosecutors have invested so much in, as Diddy's lawyers put it, "taking down a successful Black man."

We get into it in the new documentary, "TMZ Presents The Downfall of Diddy: His Defense," available free on Tubi.

Criminal defense lawyers who have won some of the most high-profile celebrity criminal cases weigh in on how race will become an issue in Diddy's trial, set for May.

Everyone agrees ... the defense will raise the issue, though subtly. As Johnny Cochran famously said in the OJ Simpson trial, race plays a part in everything in America.

Diddy's lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, says in the doc he believes the prosecution is squarely racially motivated.

We also have a mock jury in the documentary that deliberates and votes, and some jurors keyed in on race as an important factor.