Skip To...
Sean “Diddy” Combs is seeking a retrial ahead of sentencing, hoping a new trial would expose the prejudice in the jury’s verdict amid a speculated Trump pardon. Diddy’s trial came to a close last month, with the jury acquitting him of 3 of the five charges leveled against him, finding him guilty of only counts 3 and 5. Those charges involving Transportation for prostitution for two of his ex-girlfriends are considered minor offences compared to the RICO and sex-trafficking charges. Yet, each count of the Mann Act could attract up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
As Diddy awaits his October 3 sentencing, the mogul is unwilling to leave his fate to chance. Aside from his reported moves to secure bail for himself ahead of the sentencing, the mogul has also moved to wipe his criminal slate clean by overturning his conviction.
Diddy Files New Court Documents
The Bad Boy Records founder is reportedly seeking a new trial or a complete acquittal of the remaining two charges. His defense team filed new documents on Wednesday, urging the judge to review his conviction on the grounds that his offense did not meet all the criteria required to fall within the Mann Act, making his conviction unconstitutional.
In the court documents filed by attorney Alexandra Shapiro, Diddy’s team argued that the jury’s only hold on him was the evidence that he “paid adult male escorts and entertainers” to engage in consensual sex. The 62-page document stressed that these escorts engaged in consensual sexual acts with Diddy’s ex-girlfriends, which he videotaped and later watched consensually with the girlfriends in question. In contrast, the Mann Act involved the transportation of someone across state lines to engage in sexual acts. This simplified version of Diddy’s sex offense, they believed, hardly qualified as prostitution, and hence made his conviction “unconstitutional.”
Diddy Invokes the First Amendment in Retrial Bid
In a shameless attempt to discredit the evidence of his involvement in prostitution, Diddy’s team made a case for his participation as a creative bystander and not a perpetrator. Writing off his criminal offenses as voyeurism, the defense argued that the sex sessions involving Diddy’s girlfriends and paid male escorts were simply his bid to satisfy his voyeuristic urges and fantasies, evidenced in the intricately choreographed pattern of the sex videos presented to jurors during the trial. Shapiro added,
“When considered in its totality, the evidence presented by the government makes clear that Mr. Combs’s amateur porn, like many other adult films, was creative, intricate, and highly choreographed.”
Further weakening the evidence of Diddy’s involvement in prostitution, testimony from witnesses revealed that Diddy’s girlfriends were the main connection to the alleged escorts. They not only had a friendly relationship with them, but also made the travel, compensation, and lodging arrangements. The defense argued that the escorts enjoyed the consensual sex acts, as evidenced in the videos. These sexually explicit videos in question have “expressive content” protected under the First Amendment, per the documents.
Diddy’s Team Moves For New Trial or Acquittal
The documents moving the motion for retrial also highlighted the “inflammatory” impact of other charges and accompanying evidence brought against the rapper, for which he has since been acquitted following the eight-week trial. According to the defense, in the absence of those charges linking Diddy to more heinous crimes like sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, the trial would have turned out differently.
For one, a trial involving only the Mann Act would have attracted less public vitriol, and according to Diddy’s defense, would have lasted only a few days, with the main focus on escorts and entertainers who allegedly traveled interstate for the purpose of sex. They established that none of these alleged paid escorts testified during the highly publicized Diddy trial, which might otherwise have influenced the terms of his sentencing. Shapiro added,
“And it would not have included, in the government’s words, evidence of ‘so much violence.’ This is precisely the kind of case where concerns about spillover prejudice are the greatest.”
Based on the arguments outlined in the 62-page filing, the defense demanded that the judge acquit Diddy of the Mann Act charges, or at the very least, grant him a new trial.
Is Trump Going to Pardon Diddy?
The defense’s bid for a retrial marks the second attempt Diddy’s team has made this week to secure Sean “Diddy” Combs’ release from the Metropolitan Detention Centre, where he has been held since his arrest last September. The rapper’s defense team previously moved for his release on a $50 million bail ahead of his sentencing, and the court’s decision remains pending.
While the outcome of this latest bail attempt and the motion for a retrial or acquittal remain uncertain, Diddy could potentially snag an alternative freedom route via a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. Some insiders claimed that the POTUS was “seriously considering” the idea months after loosely voicing his willingness to grant one under appropriate circumstances. Regardless of the potential for a presidential pardon, it is clear Diddy isn’t one to sit still and bank on wistful possibilities.
