Sean “Diddy” Combs rejected a plea deal from federal prosecutors at a listening to on Thursday in his intercourse trafficking case, which is about to start on May 5.
After asking Diddy to substantiate if he was of sound thoughts and never on any medicine, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who’s overseeing his trial in New York, requested the rapper concerning the plea deal.
“Have you rejected the government’s offer?” Subramanian requested him, in keeping with NBC News.
“Yes, your honour,” Diddy replied.
Maurene Comey, a prosecutor with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s workplace, stated the rejected deal would have allowed for lowered jail time, however different particulars of the deal weren’t shared.
Diddy has beforehand pleaded not responsible to fees of intercourse trafficking, racketeering and transportation to have interaction in prostitution. If he’s convicted on all counts, he has the potential to stay behind bars for all times.
He wore olive-coloured clothes over a white thermal shirt as he entered the courtroom and waved at his supporters within the gallery earlier than hugging his attorneys.
During the listening to, Subramanian additionally denied the request from Diddy’s counsel to exclude the safety digicam footage CNN obtained of Diddy violently attacking former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hallway of a Los Angeles resort in 2016.
Cassie arrives at “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between” Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum on May 1, 2017 in New York City.
Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan by way of Getty Images
The ruling will enable prosecutors to point out the jury the video, which Diddy’s attorneys beforehand claimed was altered and non-admissible within the trial.
Ventura is predicted to testify on the trial beneath her personal title. Jury choice begins on May 5 and opening statements for the trial are scheduled for May 12. The trial is predicted to final eight to 10 weeks.
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Subramanian stated he wished to seat a jury of 12 and 6 alternates in three days.
The courtroom is about to name 50 jurors every day to the courtroom in Manhattan. Each juror can be both excused for trigger or requested to return for additional questioning.
Subramanian is aiming to slender the group to 45 folks, who will every be interviewed individually with two attorneys from both sides of the case current. There have been 600 potential jurors requested.
In Thursday’s listening to, Diddy’s lawyer Teny Geragos took goal at Lisa Bloom, a lawyer representing a John Doe and Dawn Richard, who was a member of two music teams fashioned by Diddy, referred to as Danity Kane and Dirty Money.
Geragos stated Bloom had appeared on the BBC to try to strengthen her shopper’s credibility.
“It is deeply disturbing to us and could violate the rules of judicial conduct,” Geragos stated.
Bloom stated it was “hypocritical” that Diddy and his attorneys “have made public statements many times” and now “want to silence me.”
“Accusers and their attorneys have every right to speak out. I am very proud to represent my brave clients, Dawn Richard and John Doe, in litigation against Mr. Combs,” Bloom added Thursday.
“I look forward to attending Mr. Combs’ upcoming criminal trial in New York and continuing to advocate for my clients consistent with the law and the ethical rules.”
(L-R) Shannon Bex, Aundrea Fimbres, Aubrey O’Day and Dawn Richard of Danity Kane attend the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards on the Barclays Center on Aug. 25, 2013 within the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
In September 2024, Richard sued the music producer, describing years of psychological and bodily abuse, together with groping, that she says she suffered as he helped launch her profession.
Richard, who grew to become extra broadly identified after showing on the fact present Making the Band, is suing for unspecified damages in addition to hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in revenue that she says she was denied.
She argues that damages, together with punitive, are warranted as a result of she suffered financial hurt, bodily harm, ache and struggling, and severe psychological and emotional misery.
Diddy’s representatives stated in a press release that he was “shocked and disappointed” by the lawsuit.
They stated Richard was making “an attempt to rewrite history” by manufacturing “a series of false claims all in the hopes of trying to get a payday — conveniently timed to coincide with her album release and press tour.”
They added that if her expertise was so damaging, Richard wouldn’t have continued working instantly with Diddy for therefore lengthy, together with returning in 2020 for a Making the Band reboot and agreeing to be featured on The Love Album final yr.
“It’s unfortunate that Ms. Richard has cast their 20-year friendship aside to try and get money from him, but Mr. Combs is confidently standing on truth and looks forward to proving that in court,” they stated.
According to the lawsuit, Richard witnessed Diddy repeatedly abusing his girlfriend and endured threats that precipitated her to concern for her life as Richard labored on songs, typically with no meals or sleep for a day or two at a time, whereas turning into identified in music circles as a member of Danity Kane and later as a member of Combs’ band Diddy — Dirty Money.
She says within the lawsuit that Combs recurrently exploded in rage, hurling mobile telephones, laptops, meals and studio tools throughout the room or at folks. At different occasions, the lawsuit says, Richard witnessed him choking and strangling his protege and longtime girlfriend, Ventura. The occasions occurred from 2004 by means of 2011, in keeping with the go well with.
In her lawsuit, Richard says she “now adds her voice to the growing chorus of victims bravely sharing their harrowing stories. Together, they seek justice and stand in solidarity, as the latest victims of the #MeToo movement in the music industry.”
In courtroom papers, she accused Diddy of asking: “You want to die today?” And she alleges that he bragged that “I end people” as he withheld her earnings, stole her copyrighted works and subjected her to groping, assault and false imprisonment by locking her in a automobile for hours at one level.
Richard says within the lawsuit that between 2009 and 2011 whereas she did recordings, rehearsals and performances, Diddy repeatedly demanded that she strip right down to her underwear and made demeaning remarks about her physique, typically calling her “lazy, fat, ugly and skinny,” even in entrance of his buddies, producers and bodyguards.
She included these round Diddy and music firms that supported him as defendants, alleging that he carried out a lot of his abuse in public settings and with report firm staff round that they could possibly be discovered liable.
Diddy has pleaded not responsible to the intercourse trafficking fees lodged in opposition to him after his September 2024 arrest. He stays incarcerated with out bail.
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If you or somebody you understand is experiencing abuse or is concerned in an abusive scenario, please go to the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for assist. They are additionally reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
— with information from The Associated Press
