A US FEDERAL appeals court judge has ruled to keep Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in jail while he makes a third bid for bail in his sex trafficking case, which is slated to go to trial in May.
In a decision filed today, Circuit Judge William J Nardini denied the hip-hop mogul’s immediate release from jail while a three-judge panel weighs his bail request.
Combs’ lawyers appealed to the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals on 30 September after two judges rejected his release.
Combs, 54, has been held at a federal jail in Brooklyn since his 16 September arrest.
The indictment alleges that Combs – for decades – “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”
It accused him of “creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”
Combs allegedly engaged in a “persistent and pervasive pattern” of verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of women, the indictment said.
“On numerous occasions from at least in or about 2009 and continuing for years, Combs assaulted women by, among other things, striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking them,” it said.
He’s also alleged to have ”planned and controlled sex performances”, which Combs called ‘freak offs’, and “often electronically recorded them”.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering, conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.
At a bail hearing three weeks ago, a judge rejected the defence’s $50 million-bail proposal that would’ve allowed the singer to be placed under house arrest at his Florida mansion with GPS monitoring and strict limits on visitors.
Judge Andrew L Carter Jr, who has since recused himself from the case, said that prosecutors had presented “clear and convincing evidence” that Combs is a danger to the community.
He said “no condition or set of conditions” could guard against the risk of Combs obstructing the investigation or threatening or harming witnesses.
In their appeal, Combs’ lawyers argued that the judge had “endorsed the government’s exaggerated rhetoric” and ordered Combs detained for “purely speculative reasons”.
“Indeed, hardly a risk of flight, he is a 54-year-old father of seven, a US citizen, an extraordinarily successful artist, businessman and philanthropist, and one of the most recognisable people on earth,” the lawyers wrote.
Combs’ lawyers have not asked the new trial judge, Arun Subramanian, to consider releasing him on bail.
At a hearing yesterday, as Combs sat alongside his lawyers in a beige jail jumpsuit, Subramanian suggested he would at least be open to taking up the issue.
After setting a 5 May trial date, Subramanian briefly questioned Combs’ lawyers about his treatment at the Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC), which has been plagued by violence and dysfunction for years.
Combs lawyer, Mark Agnifilo, who had previously sought to have him moved to a jail in New Jersey, told the judge: “We’re making a go of the MDC. The MDC has been very responsive for us.”
Another of Combs’ lawyers, Anthony Ricco, told reporters outside the courthouse: “He’s doing fine. It’s a difficult circumstance. He’s making the best of the situation.”
But, Ricco added: “Nobody’s OK with staying in jail for now.”
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