Diddy’s Legal Battle Heats Up: Attorneys Clash with Feds Over Testimony of Sexual Abuse in Upcoming Trial
Prosecutors in New York are building a case against Sean “Diddy” Combs ahead of his sex trafficking and racketeering trial. They have requested the court to allow evidence from Combs’ past, which they claim is pertinent to the testimonies of their four key witnesses. However, the defense team argues that this evidence, which they describe as a “horror show,” would unfairly tarnish Combs’ image in front of the jury.
On Monday, federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York filed a motion stating that testimony regarding Combs’ alleged “sexual abuse of other victims” over the years should be presented to the jurors. This testimony is intended to counter Combs’ claims that his relationships with the female victims were consensual.
Prosecutors noted, “[The newly introduced testimony] powerfully establishes that the defendant made no mistake when he coerced other victims into unwanted sex. It proves that the defendant intended to take the sexual gratification he wanted, regardless of consent.”
The specific instances and encounters that prosecutors wish to include in their case against Combs remain unclear, as much of the information in the lengthy indictment has been redacted. Nevertheless, many allegations mirror those in the various civil lawsuits filed against Combs since he was sued by his ex, Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura, in late 2023.
It was disclosed last week that Ventura will testify under her own name, rather than anonymously, as the first of four witnesses in Combs’ federal trial, which is set to begin on May 5. Combs faces five counts across three charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is currently awaiting trial in a Brooklyn jail.
The civil suits against Combs include a range of allegations, from credible claims to cases that have already been dismissed. One such dismissed case involved a woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by Combs and another rapper at his home in 2000, after the MTV Video Music Awards. This case, brought by Texas attorney Anthony Busbee, has been dismissed, although he has represented several of Combs’ accusers despite not being admitted to practice in New York.
Team Combs contends that the new testimony should be excluded from the trial, arguing that the prosecutors’ so-called “prior bad act” witnesses do not accurately represent him. They assert that admitting this testimony would lead to evidence that encourages a conviction without serving a legitimate purpose, instead dragging jurors through a “horror show” orchestrated by the government.
“These are entirely new, untested, uncorroborated, and uninvestigated allegations,” the defense filing states. “All but one of the alleged incidents happened more than 20 years ago, with the oldest dating back to the 1980s. Some of the allegations are demonstrably false but would nonetheless require a significant amount of trial time to disprove.”
Prosecutors maintain that the four witnesses related to their indictment of Combs will present testimony detailing “years’ worth of beatings, drug-fueled coercive sex marathons, and multiple rapes.”
The defense has requested a preliminary hearing on this matter prior to the trial in early May. Additionally, they have noted that prosecutors are withholding the names of individuals associated with this testimony until April 18—a mere two weeks before the trial.
“The allegations implicate dozens of unidentified witnesses and alleged co-conspirators around the world—and some key witnesses to the supposed incidents are deceased,” Combs’ defense attorneys stated. “Collectively, these new allegations require many months, if not years, to investigate, and if admitted, would necessitate a series of mini-trials that could double the length of a trial the government initially claimed would last ‘three weeks.’”
Last week, prosecutors filed a third superseding indictment that introduced two additional charges. The updated indictment now accuses Combs of one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution related to the woman identified as “Victim 2.”
“The government should not be permitted to pollute the trial with decades of dirt and invite a conviction based on propensity evidence with no proper purpose, portraying Mr. Combs as a bad guy who must have committed the charged crimes,” Combs’ lawyers argued.
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