Sean 'Diddy' Combs has challenged a Manhattan judge's decision to deny him bail, asserting that he should be released from jail before his sex trafficking trial because the prosecution's efforts to keep him incarcerated are 'founded on speculation.' The embattled hip hop magnate's attorneys submitted the appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Tuesday. Combs has been held at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest last month on explosive federal charges.
The Manhattan US Attorney's office convinced a judge that Combs, 54, is a 'serial abuser and obstructer' who might intimidate witnesses or flee before his trial. However, defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro argued that the government's concerns about potential obstruction were speculative, relying primarily on unverified allegations about communications with witnesses in civil cases and interactions initiated by purported witnesses, not Combs.
'The sensationalism surrounding his arrest has skewed the bail analysis: Mr. Combs was not released pending trial, despite offering to adhere to stringent conditions that would have eliminated any conceivable risk of flight or harm,' Shapiro wrote in Tuesday's legal brief.
Combs' legal team was unsuccessful last month in convincing a judge that home detention, electronic monitoring, and other conditions on a $50 million bail would be sufficient to keep Combs out of jail. 'He traveled to New York to surrender because he knew he was going to be indicted,' his legal team stated. 'He took extraordinary measures to show that he intended to confront and contest the charges, not flee.' 'He presented a bail package that would clearly prevent him from posing a threat to anyone or contacting any witnesses.'
Combs pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, vehemently denying any wrongdoing. The international celebrity is alleged to have orchestrated disturbing orgies he called 'Freak Offs,' where women were lured into his circle, given drugs, and forced into extended sex sessions with male prostitutes, according to federal authorities.
