October 10th 2024.
Musician and producer Sean "Diddy" Combs is facing serious charges, including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. His trial has been scheduled for May 5, 2025 in the US, as announced by the judge during a court hearing in New York this morning.
Combs, who maintains his innocence, was present in the courtroom along with some members of his family. He was wearing a tan button down shirt and khaki pants, with his ankles shackled. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he managed to smile and wave towards his family, who were sitting in the second row.
The prosecution, represented by Emily Johnson, estimates that their case will take about three weeks. However, this timeline may change if additional charges or defendants are added to the case through a superseding indictment. On the other hand, Combs' lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, expects their defense case to take about one week.
Judge Arun Subramanian also made an important ruling, ordering both parties to refrain from making statements about secret grand jury material and other non-public evidence related to the case. He requested Combs' lawyers to draft a proposal regarding this matter.
This decision came after Combs' attorneys accused the government of leaking a video of him physically assaulting his former girlfriend to CNN. However, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, stated that the government had no knowledge of the video before it was published by CNN. CNN, on the other hand, declined to comment on the matter.
The video in question was from a 2016 hotel surveillance footage, which was exclusively released by CNN in May. It showed Combs dragging and kicking his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. Initially, Combs denied the allegations made by Ventura in a lawsuit filed in November 2023. However, after the video was made public, he issued an apology.
In light of the video and its potential impact on the trial, Combs' lawyers filed a motion to exclude it from the proceedings. However, prosecutor Emily Johnson dismissed this as an attempt to keep a crucial piece of evidence out of the trial. The judge will make a decision on this matter after reviewing the legal arguments.
This court appearance was Combs' third since his arrest and his first time in front of Judge Subramanian, who was nominated by President Biden and has been on the bench for a year. He was assigned the case after Judge Andrew Carter recused himself. Combs' lawyers have been pushing for a speedy trial, as he has been denied bail twice. He is currently in federal custody at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.
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