Sean "Diddy" Combs back in court as judge denies bid to delay trial by two months
Sean "Diddy" Combs was back in court Friday as a judge denied a request by his attorneys for a two month delay to his sex trafficking and racketeering trial in New York City.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin on May 5, with opening statements set for May 12.
Combs appeared in court Friday wearing tan prison clothes and blue slip-on shoes. He entered the courtroom without handcuffs and hugged his attorneys. His mother and one of his sons was also present, as well as a man wearing a "Free Puff" shirt. The pre-trial hearing lasted just about two hours.
The music mogul's attorneys had asked the judge to push back the trial by two months, alleging prosecutors have been slow to turn over potential evidence, making it difficult to be ready in three weeks. In their letter, defense attorneys cited a failure by prosecutors to turn over potential evidence in a timely fashion, including materials related to a superseding indictment returned by a grand jury earlier this month.
"There is actually substantially new conduct in the Third Superseding Indictment, about which we are continuing to receive new discovery," Combs' attorneys wrote.
They went on to write, "Under these circumstances, with discovery seemingly incomplete on a 15-year mandatory minimum count, we cannot, in good conscience, go to trial on the scheduled date. This is a problem that the government has created, yet it opposes our reasonable request."
Prosecutors opposed a delay, and the judge rejected it during Friday's hearing.
The defense also wanted what the judge called an entire universe of documents related to one of the alleged victims who used to work for Combs. At a hearing Monday, the defense accused prosecutors of cherry picking emails and chats related to this person, and the defense wanted all of their emails.
The government said it didn't have access to all of this person's work emails - likely 20,000 of them. The judge denied the defense's request and told them they need to point to specific items they believe weren't turned over.
The judge also ruled one of the alleged victims will have to turn over drafts of their memoir, but they won't have to turn over financial documents the defense also requested.
Three alleged victims will testify using pseudonyms, but their identities will be known to the parties and the jury.
Outtakes from two specific interviews in the documentary "The Fall of Diddy" are admissible. An attorney for Warner Brothers was in court and said they'd hand them over at the end of next week.
Attorneys for Combs also filed a motion to try and exclude video footage showing him assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie Venture at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. They argued the footage was altered and manipulated.
Combs, 55, has been held without bail since his arrest in September. He faces five counts, including racketeering conspiracy, transportation to engage in prostitution and sex trafficking. He's accused of using threats, force and coercion to get victims to engage in sex acts, once allegedly dangling a victim over an apartment balcony, according to prosecutors.
The next court date in the case is next Friday.
