Diddy denied bail for the third time in the sex trafficking case

UPDATED, 3:05 p.m.: The third time wasn’t the charm for Sean “Diddy” Combs when it came to getting out of trouble.

After reviewing arguments and other filings from both the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the former music mogul’s defense team earlier this week, a federal judge on Wednesday denied Combs’ latest request to be released from New York’s Metropolitan Detention Center ahead of his trial in 2025.

“Defendant Sean Combs renewed his bail application on November 8, 2024. The court held a hearing on November 22, 2024, and the parties filed supplementary briefs on November 25 and 26, 2024,” Judge Arun Subramanian wrote in a five-page letter ruling before Thanksgiving (read the order denying Sean Combs’ request for bail here). “For the following reasons, Combs’ motion is DENIED.”

“The court finds that the government has demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that no condition or combination of conditions can adequately ensure the safety of the community,” the district judge bluntly added.

The 55-year-old Combs was arrested in mid-September on racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to participate in prostitution charges, which could result in a life sentence if found guilty. The 55-year-old Combs’ trial is scheduled to begin May 5, 2025. After Combs received a $50 million bond and other guarantees, two previous bail efforts failed in September.

BEFORE, NOVEMBER 25, 3:24 PM: The outgoing U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York warned a federal judge Monday to be wary of efforts to secure bail for Sean “Diddy” Combs, citing the Bad Boy Records founder’s ongoing “history of obstructive behavior.” and “physically abused his body.”

Combs is charged with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation for prostitution. The 55-year-old Grammy winner, who pleaded not guilty after his arrest on Sept. 16, also faces an almost daily barrage of civil lawsuits stemming from his celebrity-visited, drug-addicted, videotaped “freak offs.” focus. He faces a life sentence if found guilty in the criminal case in a trial that begins May 5.

Citing the currently incarcerated Combs for “his decades of violence,” Damian Williams’ office today painted a picture of Judge Arun Subramanian’s defendant that is far more graphic than almost anything we’ve heard from the thoughtful U.S. attorney so far.

Over the years, the defendant’s physical and sexual abuse took many forms, often in the context of long-term romantic relationships. There was a common theme throughout: the defendant repeatedly and consistently coerced and forced women to satisfy his sexual desires. The defendants often committed violent acts against women behind closed doors, throwing them to the ground, pulling their hair, kicking, shoving, punching and slapping them. He manipulated, coerced, and blackmailed women, including by giving them drugs, threatening to withhold financial support, and threatening to distribute sex videos the defendant made of their sexual encounters. He harassed women by, among other things, displaying firearms, threatening them, showing up at their homes unannounced and trying to break down the door – once with a hammer. In addition to his romantic partners, the defendant also physically abused his personal employees. Former employees have described how the defendant threatened to kill them, threw objects at them, was punched, slapped and pushed by the defendant and was seen doing the same to others.

This significant history of violence must be taken into account when considering the defendant’s obstructive activities. Overall, there is no doubt that the government has established the defendant’s dangerousness through clear and convincing evidence.

After a sometimes difficult hearing on November 22 at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse in New York, the third attempt by Combs’ lawyers to have him released on $50 million bail, the judge told all parties that he would be released until 9am “further input” would like PT Monday before making a decision.

Amid conflicting reports about what actually happened during an alleged, pre-planned raid on Combs’ cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center a few weeks ago, Subramanian’s decision on whether Combs could be released on bail is under 24/7 in a year -Security surveillance could end A three-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side is expected sometime before Thanksgiving.

Although the defense has tended to associate itself with some of Donald Trump’s recent legal battles, today it is clearly flying the flag of family and free speech for its client.

“For months, government agents, plaintiffs’ attorneys and others with questionable motives have flooded the airwaves with false and outrageous allegations about Mr. Combs,” said the eight-page correspondence, signed by attorneys Alexandria Shapiro, Mark Agnifilo and Teny Geragos.

“This relentless drumbeat of negative publicity has destroyed (Comb’s) reputation and will make it virtually impossible for him to receive a fair trial. Mr. Combs is not being asked to sit idly by and submit to it all. He has a right to a fair trial and the constitutional right to speak on his own behalf,” they add in terms used in previous filings. “The government’s arguments that asking his children to post birthday wishes on Instagram and that he is not entitled to publicly express his views, that this prosecution was racially motivated, are simply an unconstitutional attempt to silence him bring.”

The defense says: “The government is essentially advocating a standard under which the entire press community – and plaintiffs and the government itself – can wage war on Mr. Combs’ reputation, but Mr. Combs cannot even attempt to influence public opinion.” .” yourself in response. That’s just not the law.”

Filed this morning after the defense, the lightly redacted document from Williams — who will soon be replaced by Trump appointee Jay Clayton — largely sidesteps constitutional questions and chides the defense team led by Agnifilo and Geragos for lacking “meaningful guardrails.” ” in this latest bail application for Combs.

The SDNY USAO also criticized “defense attorney’s blasé attitude in violating these rules while simultaneously urging the court to release his client.” They added that this “does not give the government confidence that counsel will be able to monitor the defendant’s conduct with any rigor.” And with what one would describe as a hard kick in any bar fight, they said it continues: “In fact, the defendant did this, contrary to the lawyer’s statements a few days ago continued to get involved engaged in unauthorized communication with MDC family members by using another inmate’s ContactMeASAP account as recently as yesterday.”

While the prosecution’s contention that the defense was playing a shell game could prove to be the most damning of all bail decisions, although it is more baseball-related than other comments the U.S. Attorney’s Office made in its 13-page letter from Monday.

“After defense counsel stated unequivocally at the previous bail hearing before Judge Carter that the defendant would not address the grand jury witnesses, it became clear that the defendant had done just that: phone records and electronic evidence show that the “Defendant contacted Witness 1 repeatedly before and after his grand jury appearance, and then defendant apparently deleted the messages from his phone,” they said, referring to Combs’ ex-long-term girlfriend Cassie Venture (aka Witness-1). who sued him last year for abuse and rape in a short-lived lawsuit that was settled within 24 hours for around $30 million.

“Finally, it cannot be ignored that the defendant’s penchant for obstruction appeared to continue in court last week when it emerged that the defendant had done something forged documents to the court During a hearing called to resolve his allegations of government misconduct, officials added to Combs’ allegation that documents and notes marked “legal” were improperly taken by MSC employees during the raid on his cell and locker and were photographed.

As we spit in the defense’s face, it turned out that some of those pages in the original documents didn’t actually have the word “legal” written on them – a fact that completely pissed off Subramanian last week.

The defense, in a sense, admitted the error of having papers not labeled “legal” and suddenly being labeled “legal” at the November 22 hearing, and remained silent today on that issue, as well as the more specific issues of disability raised by of the party were addressed, striking government.

However, in a second filing after court Monday, the defense said: “Mr. “Combs objects to the government’s submission to the extent that it goes beyond answering the court’s specific question and requests that the court not consider new or repetitive information in the government’s brief.”

That means we will try again if you deny us bail this time.