NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs filed a new bail application on Friday, saying changed circumstances, along with new evidence, mean the hip-hop mogul should be allowed to prepare for a trial in May from outside prison.
Lawyers for Combs filed the request in Manhattan federal court, where his previous bail applications have been rejected since then by two judges his arrest in September on charges of conspiracy and sex trafficking.
He has pleaded not guilty to those charges he coerced and abused women for years with the help of a network of associates and associates, while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical abuse.
He was awaiting trial on May 5 a federal detention center in Brooklyn.
Advocates propose 24-hour security surveillance and limited contact
In their new lawsuit, Combs’ attorneys say they are proposing a “much more robust” bail package that would subject the entertainer to strict 24-hour security monitoring and near-total restrictions on his ability to contact anyone other than his attorneys. But the amount of money they attach to the package remains $50 million, as they previously proposed.
They also cite new evidence that they say “makes it clear that the government’s case is weak.” That evidence, the lawyers said, refutes the government’s claim a video from March 2016 in which Combs physically assaults his then-girlfriend occurred during a forced “freak off,” a sexually driven event described in the indictment against Combs.
They wrote that the meeting was instead “a minute-long look at a complex but ten-year consensual relationship“between Combs and his then-girlfriend.
The attorneys argued that the prison conditions Combs is experiencing at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn violate his constitutional rights to participate in his defense.
A spokesperson for prosecutors declined to comment.
