May trial date set for Sean 'Diddy' Combs to face sex trafficking charges

NEW YORK (AP) — A May 5 trial date was set in hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs'sex trafficking case Thursday, and a prosecutor claimed defense lawyers were trying to exclude a "damning piece of evidence" by saying it was leaked by the government.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson struck back against defense claims during Combs' first appearance before Manhattan federal court Judge Arun Subramanian, who will preside over his trial.

She noted that defense lawyers in a submission late Wednesday argued that the government's Department of Homeland Security was to blame for a leak to the media of a video of Combs punching and kicking his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, in a hotel hallway in 2016.

The lawyers said the video aired by CNN in May along with other alleged government leaks “have led to damaging, highly prejudicial pretrial publicity that can only taint the jury pool and deprive Mr. Combs of his right to a fair trial.”

But Johnson urged the judge to see through the defense claims, calling them “baseless and simply a means to try to exclude a damning piece of evidence” from the trial.

“Not a single one of those alleged leaks are from members of the prosecution team,” Johnson said.

Still, Subramanian told defense attorney Marc Agnifilo to write a proposed order that he would sign instructing lawyers on both sides to comply with rules prohibiting the sharing of information publicly that could taint a jury.

Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty to charges lodged against him last month, including racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking based on allegations that date back to 2008.

An indictment alleges Combs coerced and abused women for years with help from a network of associates and employees while silencing victims through blackmail and violent acts, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.

Johnson reasserted that the indictment could be updated to add charges or defendants.

During Thursday's hearing, Combs, wearing a beige jail jumpsuit, was more animated and engaged than he had been at two earlier court appearances. When he entered the courtroom, he gave a hearty hug to each of his lawyers and smiled as he spoke with them.

During the hearing itself, he turned to speak with attorney Anthony Ricco, whispering in his ear, as Johnson spoke about electronic materials seized from his residences and from him during his arrest.

Ricco said outside the courthouse afterward that Combs is making the best of a difficult situation.

“Dr. King called it the law of unintended consequences,” he said, referring to civil rights leader Martin Luther King. “Sometimes the more you push a person down, the stronger they get.”

Johnson said 96 electronic devices were seized in raids in March on Combs’ residences in Miami and Los Angeles and at an unspecified private airport in Florida. She said another four devices were seized when Combs was arrested last month.

She said eight devices seized in Miami contained over 90 terabytes of information, which she labeled as “extraordinary” as she explained delays in extracting some information for technological reasons.

The judge said Combs can return to court in December unless lawyers agree that hearing is unnecessary.

Much of the hearing featured arguments by lawyers about what is needed to protect an eventual jury from bias, highlighted by Johnson's claims about the hotel video.

After the video was broadcast, Combs posted a social media video apologizing, saying: "I was disgusted when I did it" and "I'm disgusted now."

Responding Wednesday night in a court filing to defense claims that the federal government had leaked the video to CNN, prosecutors told the judge that the government was not in possession of the video before it was aired on CNN.

During Thursday's hearing, the judge said he would issue an order restricting what both sides can say publicly about the charges or the investigation.

Combs’ lawyers have been trying unsuccessfully to get the founder of Bad Boy Records freed on bail since his Sept. 16 arrest.

Two judges have concluded that Combs would be a danger to the community if he is freed. At a bail hearing three weeks ago, a judge rejected a $50 million bail package, including home detention and electronic monitoring, after concluding that Combs was a threat to tamper with witnesses and obstruct a continuing investigation.

In an appeal of the bail rulings to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, lawyers for Combs on Tuesday asked a panel of judges to reverse the bail findings, saying the proposed bail package “would plainly stop him from posing a danger to anyone or contacting any witnesses.”

They urged the appeals court to reject the findings of a lower-court judge who they said had “endorsed the government’s exaggerated rhetoric and ordered Mr. Combs detained.”