Photo Credit: Melissa Lee / Marine Corps
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ sex-trafficking case gets underway in about a month, but his defense team has asked for an adjournment. Instead, they want to see the May 12 starting date pushed back by two weeks.
His lawyers argue the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the SDNY has not been fully sharing material such as emails from a former Combs employee. They allege that the prosecution’s witness ‘Victim-4’ seems to have “cherry picked messages” shared on WhatsApp. Outside of court, Combs’ team said they would no longer seek an adjournment if the feds “get their act together.”
Combs pleaded not guilty on Monday to an expanded federal indictment that charges him with five criminal counts—including charges for racketeering and sex trafficking. Combs entered his plea to the new charges at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan.
“These are not new allegations or new accusers. These are the same individuals, former long-term girlfriends, who were involved in consensual relationships,” his lawyers said to the media after the hearing. Jury selection for the trial remains scheduled for May 5 with opening statements set to begin May 12 if the judge does not grant an adjournment.
Prosecutors allege that Combs used his business empire to sexually abuse women between 2004 and 2024. The allegations include having women take part in recorded sexual performances called ‘freak offs’ with male sex workers, who were sometimes transported across state lines to facilitate the action. Combs has been sitting in the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center since September. He is also facing more than a dozen civil lawsuits filed by both men and women that accuse him of sexual abuse.
His lawyers have argued that Combs never forced anyone to engage in sexual acts against their will. He says the ‘freak offs’ reported by the media were consensual activity between consenting adults. A surveillance video from 2016 leaked in 2022, kicking off the intense interest. The video shows Combs kicking his former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie Ventura.
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