The judge presiding over Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex-trafficking case postponed his decision on whether to release him on bond until next week.
U.S. District Judge Aran Subramanian requested Combs’ lawyers and prosecutors to provide documents by Monday detailing the precise conditions of his release during a hearing held in federal court in Manhattan on Friday.
Combs, looking gaunt, waved and blew kisses to his mother and kids in the gallery’s second row.
During the hearing, prosecutor Christy Slavik contended that granting the music mogul’s request would be risky.
In addition to breaking the law and paying his way out of detention, he poses a risk of fleeing, endangers the community, and tries to undermine the fairness of these proceedings,” Slavik stated.
According to defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo, Combs would remain in a three-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan if he were freed. Only his lawyers would be permitted to phone him, and he would be protected by the private firm Patriot Security. Only family members and attorneys were permitted to visit.
Subramanian claimed he wanted more information on how Combs would communicate and what channels he would be permitted to use because he was worried about his family or security and Combs was paying him to contact victims or witnesses on his behalf.
Combs, 55, has entered a not guilty plea and is being detained at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center before his May 5 trial. He faces charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transporting people to engage in prostitution.
Since other well-known defendants with comparable accusations, such as former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch Mike Jeffreys, who was charged with sex trafficking by New York authorities last month, have been given bond, Agnifilo contended in court that his client should also be released on it.
Prosecutors countered that Combs had been interfering with witnesses while incarcerated.
Prosecutors claimed in a recent filing that Combs has persisted in his attempts to “evade law enforcement monitoring, corruptly influence witness testimony, and further attack the integrity of these proceedings.”
Combs’ bail hearing takes place two days after Subramanian, citing attorney-client confidentiality, ordered prosecutors to destroy 19 pages of notes that were confiscated from his detention cell during a recent sweep.
Last year, Combs came under scrutiny after his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, often known as Cassie, filed a lawsuit accusing him of raping and beating her during violent outbursts and controlling her life.
He allegedly coerced her into having intercourse with other guys while he watched, according to the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, he would pay the other guys, who were frequently sex workers, to accompany him on their travels.
A day after the complaint was made public, Ventura and Combs reached a settlement, and Combs refuted every accusation. However, CCTV footage of Combs assaulting Cassie in a hotel corridor in 2016 came to light.
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