Combs, detained pending trial, has pleaded not guilty

11/10/2024 6:23

        Sean "Diddy" Combs will
        stand trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges
        starting on May 5, a U.S. judge decided during a hearing on
        Thursday, and the jailed hip-hop mogul blew kisses to his family
        in the courtroom afterward.
        
        During the hearing before U.S. District Judge Arun
        Subramanian in Manhattan federal court, Combs' lawyer Marc
        Agnifilo also raised concerns about what he termed improper
        leaks by federal agents about the case. Prosecutor Emily Johnson
        called the claim baseless.
        Combs, 54, pleaded not guilty on Sept. 17 to a three-count
        indictment charging him with using his business empire -
        including record label Bad Boy Entertainment - to transport
        women and male sex workers across state lines to take part in
        recorded sexual performances called "Freak Offs."
        
        Thursday's hearing marked a third court appearance for Combs
        since his September arrest.
        
        Wearing tan prison garb, Combs stood and blew kisses toward
        his family members seated in the courtroom's audience after the
        hearing ended. His mother and children attended the hearing,
        defense lawyer Anthony Ricco said in court. Combs was then led
        out a side door by members of the U.S. Marshals Service.
        
        Johnson told the court the prosecution's case at the trial
        will last at least three weeks. Combs' defense case will last
        around one week, Agnifilo said.
        
        Combs has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center
        in Brooklyn since his arrest. His appeal of another judge's
        decision to deny him bail is pending.
        
        The rapper and producer faces a sentence of up to life in
        prison and a minimum of 15 years if convicted of the three
        counts he faces: racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and
        transportation to engage in prostitution.
        
        Prosecutors said Combs enticed women by giving them drugs
        such as ketamine and ecstasy, financial support or promises of
        career support or a romantic relationship.
        
        Combs then used the surreptitious recordings of the sex acts
        as "collateral" to ensure that the women would remain silent,
        and sometimes displayed weapons to intimidate abuse victims and
        witnesses, prosecutors said.
        
        The indictment contained no allegation that Combs himself
        directly engaged in unwanted sexual contact with women, though
        he was accused of physically assaulting them.
        
        Agnifilo has called the sexual activity described by
        prosecutors consensual.
        
        In a court filing on Wednesday night, Agnifilo asked
        Subramanian to impose a "gag order" prohibiting prosecutors and
        federal agents from disclosing evidence to the media. Agnifilo
        cited what he called unlawful leaks that included a videotape
        showing Combs striking and dragging a woman in 2016.
        
        At the hearing, Johnson called the defense request an
        attempt to "exclude a damning piece of evidence." She said
        prosecutors would have no problem affirming their obligations
        not to disclose confidential evidence to the press, but said the
        defense should be bound by that as well.
        
        Johnson also raised concerns about Agnifilo's statement in a
        September interview with entertainment news outlet TMZ calling
        the case a "takedown of a successful Black man." She said the
        comment amounted to an accusation that the government was
        "engaging in a racist prosecution."
        
        "Statements of this sort seriously risk a fair trial in this
        case," Johnson said.
        
        Subramanian asked Agnifilo to propose an order that would
        govern public statements by both sides.