Sean “Diddy” Combs has requested a decide to throw out his responsible verdicts on prostitution-related counts or grant him a brand new trial, saying such convictions are with out precedent.
“This conviction stands alone, nevertheless it should not stand in any respect,” the Wednesday submitting stated.
Combs’ attorneys argue that his two felony convictions have been a singular misapplication of the federal Mann Act, which bars interstate commerce associated to prostitution,
“To our knowledge, Mr. Combs is the only person ever convicted of violating the statute for conduct anything like this,” a Wednesday submitting from Combs authorized workforce stated.
Combs, 55, was convicted in a New York federal courtroom of two counts of transportation to interact in prostitution for flying individuals across the nation, together with his girlfriends and male intercourse staff, for sexual encounters, whereas he was acquitted of extra critical fees. He might rise up to a decade in jail at his sentencing set for Oct. 3.
His attorneys argued that not one of the components usually used for Mann Act convictions, together with taking advantage of intercourse work or coercion, have been current right here.
“It is undisputed that he had no commercial motive and that all involved were adults,” The filing said. “The men chose to travel and engage in the activity voluntarily. The verdict confirms the women were not vulnerable or exploited or trafficked or sexually assaulted.”
The attorneys stated that Combs, “at most, paid to engage in voyeurism as part of a ‘swingers’ lifestyle” and argued that “doesn’t represent ‘prostitution’ beneath a correctly restricted definition of the statutory time period.”
Combs was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and intercourse trafficking, fees might have put certainly one of hip-hop’s celebrated figures in jail for all times.
The brand new movement asks Choose Arun Subramanian to vacate the jury’s verdict, or to order a brand new trial whose proof is proscribed to issues associated to the Mann Act counts, due to “severe spillover prejudice from reams of inflammatory evidence” associated to the extra critical counts.
Prosecutors insisted through the eight-week trial that Combs had coerced, threatened and generally viciously pressured two ex-girlfriends to have intercourse with male intercourse staff to fulfill his sexual urges. They cited a number of acts of violence he carried out in opposition to them as proof that that they had no say.
A day earlier, Combs’ workforce requested the decide to free him on a $50 million bond whereas he awaits sentencing in October after a jury discovered him not responsible of essentially the most critical federal fees he confronted earlier this month.
His lawyer argued that situations on the Metropolitan Detention Middle in Brooklyn are harmful, noting that others convicted of comparable prostitution-related offenses have been usually launched earlier than sentencing.
Subramanian beforehand denied a request that Combs be launched on bail whereas he awaits sentencing, citing a now-infamous video of Combs beating a former girlfriend and pictures displaying accidents to a different ex-girlfriend.
The decide has not but dominated on both of this week’s motions.
