Diddy news: Prosecutors add new charges to criminal case in indictment
Embattled music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was hit with two additional sex crimes charges ahead of his May trial in New York City.
The slew of sexual assault allegations brought against Sean “Diddy” Combs has become a point of contention in his upcoming criminal trial.
In competing motions filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Combs’ legal team and government prosecutors argued over the admission of evidence from past claims detailing the rapper’s alleged sexual abuse, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY.
The allegations would add onto the sexual offenses underlying the federal grand jury indictment that resulted in Combs’ September 2024 arrest in Manhattan. Combs, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, is expected to go to trial on May 5.
“These incendiary allegations are substantially more serious than the charged offenses and, if admitted, would make it impossible for Mr. Combs to receive a fair trial,” Combs’ attorneys said in the filing.
In response, the U.S. government filed its own motion opposing Combs’ request to exclude the assault allegations from trial, arguing that relevant testimony “powerfully establishes” the hip-hop mogul “made no mistake when he coerced other victims into unwanted sex.”
Combs was originally charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. A superseding indictment filed April 3 charged him with two additional counts: one charge of sex trafficking and one of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Since Combs’ former girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed and settled a November 2023 lawsuit accusing him of rape, sex trafficking and physical abuse, dozens of accusers have come forward with civil complaints alleging sexual misconduct. In October 2024, Texas-based lawyer Tony Buzbee revealed he’s representing 120 alleged victims in a series of abuse complaints.
Attorneys: Diddy sex assault allegations will delay criminal trial
In Monday’s motion, Combs’ legal team criticized prosecutors’ evidence from past assault allegations as “uncharged and uncorroborated crimes,” dating as far back as the 1980s.
Attorneys expressed concern that the allegations, many of which reportedly implicate “dozens of unidentified witnesses and alleged co-conspirators around the world,” could significantly delay the timeline of Combs’ criminal trial.
“Collectively, these new allegations require many months if not years to investigate, and if admitted, would require a series of mini-trials certain to double the length of a trial the government originally said would last ‘three weeks,’” Combs’ attorneys said.
The rapper’s lawyers added that the content of these allegations differs from the charges contained in Combs’ federal indictment, which “focus on allegations about domestic abuse or supposed economic coercion of longtime girlfriends.”
“The court should require the government to try the case it charged and prove that case to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt,” attorneys said. “The government should not be permitted to pollute the trial with decades of dirt and invite a conviction based on propensity evidence with no proper purpose by painting Mr. Combs as a bad guy who must have committed the charged crimes.”
In the event the allegations are not excluded from Combs’ trial, attorneys asked the court to hold a preliminary hearing to review prosecutors’ evidence, in order to “avoid tainting the jury with exposure to inadmissible and highly prejudicial evidence.”
Government: Sex assault allegations prove Diddy’s racketeering enterprise
In its opposing motion, the U.S. government argued that Combs’ request to exclude evidence from the assault claims of his alleged victims should be denied.
Prosecutors said testimony from these victims not only proves the rapper “intended to take the sexual gratification he wanted, regardless of consent,” but also serves as “direct evidence” of his racketeering offense.
Per Combs’ indictment, prosecutors previously alleged his racketeering enterprise included “multiple acts of kidnapping,” arson, bribery, witness tampering, forced labor, sex trafficking, transportation for prostitution and distribution of narcotics.
“This evidence proves the existence of the enterprise, its purposes, and the means and methods by which the defendant and his co-conspirators carried out a pattern of racketeering activity that included ‘persistent and pervasive abuse,’” prosecutors said in Monday’s filing.
In contrast to Combs’ attorneys, the government said a preliminary hearing is unnecessary because prosecutors have provided the court with “detailed proffers of each victim’s anticipated testimony and corroborating evidence.” Such a proceeding, prosecutors argued, is a “thinly veiled attempt” by Combs and his legal team to “cross-examine victims twice.”
Contributing: Jay Stahl, USA TODAY
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