Former American rap mogul and entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail for the third time in his ongoing sex-trafficking and racketeering case.
A New York Metropolis decide dominated on Wednesday that Combs posed a major danger of witness tampering if launched earlier than his trial, which is scheduled for Might 2025.
The 54-year-old was held on the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, dealing with prices of racketeering conspiracy, intercourse trafficking, transportation for prostitution, and greater than two dozen accusations of sexual assault filed in civil lawsuits.
Combs has pleaded not responsible and denies all allegations.
Within the newest ruling, US District Choose Arun Subramanian cited substantial proof, together with Combs’s alleged historical past of witness tampering, violations of jail laws, and working a “felony enterprise” that included compelled labour and kidnapping.
“The Courtroom finds that the federal government has proven by clear and convincing proof that no situation or mixture of situations will moderately guarantee the security of the group,” Choose Subramanian wrote.
Prosecutors strongly opposed bail, accusing Combs of making an attempt to misuse jail communications to sway witnesses and public opinion.
They alleged he despatched lots of of textual content messages utilizing an inmate communication app, ContactMeASAP to achieve people not on his authorized contact listing.
In a single occasion, prosecutors claimed Combs inspired his youngsters to publish a video of their birthday celebration on social media to affect potential jurors.
Lawyer Lisa Bloom, who represented considered one of Combs’s civil accusers, Daybreak Richards, said that Combs had contacted witnesses from jail. Chatting with BBC’s ‘Newsnight’, Bloom stated, “The sturdy implication there may be that he talked her into making these statements, maybe gave her cash. We don’t know. However that might be witness tampering.”
Protection attorneys argued for Combs’s launch, stating he wanted ample time to organize for his trial.
Earlier this month, they efficiently challenged a search of his jail cell, throughout which authorities seized handwritten authorized notes. The court docket dominated the search illegal and ordered the destruction of the supplies, citing attorney-client privilege.
Nevertheless, prosecutors countered that Combs’s actions may quantity to obstruction of justice. They maintained that his communication with witnesses and efforts to sway public opinion are a part of an ongoing investigation that might result in further prices or defendants.
“He didn’t do that by himself,” Bloom stated. “He had an operation that concerned others. It’s crucial that not solely do predators get delivered to justice, however those that conspire with them, who assist them, who’re complicit.”
Civil lawsuits towards Combs continued to mount, with allegations starting from coercion and abuse of underage people to blackmailing victims with express recordings. A number of lawsuits accuse Combs of threatening witnesses and bodily assaulting victims.
Regardless of providing a $50 million bail package deal that included home arrest and restrictions on guests, Combs’s authorized group has been unable to safe his launch.
His properties in Los Angeles and Miami have reportedly been put up on the market to help his authorized and monetary efforts.
