An official start date for Diddy‘s sex trafficking trial has been set during a hearing that also saw new rules set for evidence in the case.
On Thursday (October 10), Manhattan federal court Judge Arun Subramanian scheduled the trial’s start date for May 5, 2025. According to the Associated Press, Diddy’s mother, Janice Combs, and his children where present for what was the Bad Boy founder’s first appearance before Subramanian, who will preside over the case moving forward.
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During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson also responded to defense attorney’s argument that the footage of Puff’s 2016 assault on ex-girlfriend Cassie should be excluded as evidence, as they claim the U.S. Department of Homeland Security leaked the video to the media.
The disgraced executive’s attorneys argued that this and other leaks by the government “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.”
Johnson, on the other hand, accused the defense of trying “to exclude a damning piece of evidence” with their “baseless” claims.
While he did not rule on whether or not to admit the video, Judge Subramanian told Diddy’s attorney Marc Agnifilo to propose an order that would instruct “lawyers on both sides to comply with rules prohibiting them from publicly disclosing information that could taint a jury,” which the judge pre-emptively agreed to sign.
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Prosecutors also hinted during the hearing that the embattled mogul’s legal woes could get worse as they are exploring the possibility of filing a superseding indictment amid their ongoing investigation.
A superseding indictment, which would most likely push back the trial start date, can include additional charges, more defendants or both.
On Wednesday (October 9), the mogul’s lawyers filed a motion requesting an evidentiary hearing into what they allege are “strategic” and “unlawful” leaks of evidence by the government to the media, as well as “false and prejudicial statements” made in the press by federal agents.
Puffy’s legal team made a number of brazen allegations in the motion, including that the leaks were “planned and executed” by the Department of Homeland Security, which carried out the raids on his homes earlier this year.
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The most “egregious” example of these leaks, his attorneys argued, is the widely publicized video of Diddy assaulting Cassie in a hotel corridor in 2016.
“The videotape was leaked to CNN for one reason alone: to mortally wound the reputation and the prospect of Sean Combs successfully defending himself against these allegations,” the motion reads.
