A day after a New York magistrate judge denied bail for Sean “Diddy” Combs, the music mogul and his legal team were again rejected on Wednesday while attempting to appeal that bail rejection in district court.
U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter ruled that there was “clear and convincing evidence” that supported Judge Robyn F. Ternofsky’s previous bail denial for his racketeering and sex trafficking charges, per The AP. Combs was present in the courtroom for the decision and will remain at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
“The fight continues. We are not giving up by a long shot … I’m going to do everything that I can to move his case as quickly as possible,” Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo told reporters on the courthouse steps. “I understand that the government has a great amount of electronic devices that they have to download and provide to me, but everything’s on the government’s timetable; nothing’s on the defendant’s timetable and they’re going to have to accommodate me and him and give us a quick trial and I’m going to be pushing to that.”
“He’s ready. He’s focused. He has been ready to defend this case since he first found out about this case; nothing has changed. From his perspective, I obviously would much prefer to fight this case with him out of jail and we are going to try to bring that about through additional legal process,” he continued. “But wherever he is, his resolve is the same: He believes he’s innocent, I believe he’s innocent and we’re going to fight this case with all of our might until we don’t have to fight anymore … at this point, we are moving forward. We’re preparing for trial as we speak and we are considering our next steps and appealing the courts.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Combs’ lawyer submitted an updated bail package proposal, obtained by TheWrap, that included home detention, GPS monitoring, weekly drug testing, zero visitation from potential co-conspirators and limited female visitors aside from family and his children’s mothers.
That was in addition to Tuesday’s proposal of $50 million bond and his Miami home as collateral, with his lawyers arguing that his attempt to voluntarily surrender proves he is not a flight risk. However, Judge Ternofsky ordered his immediate remand at the time. The rapper was arrested on Monday and pleaded not guilty to three federal charges — racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, per legal documents obtained by TheWrap.
The grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday revealed that between 2008 and the present, Combs and members of his enterprise were accused of engaging in “sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.”
“Sean Diddy Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children and working to uplift the Black community,” Agnifilo told TMZ on Tuesday. “He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal.”
This week’s updates come months after Combs’ previous longtime girlfriend Casandra Ventura, aka Cassie, filed a lawsuit in November 2023 accusing him of repeated physical and sexual abuse. Combs denied the allegations and settled the lawsuit out of court the subsequent day, but after federal authorities eventually raided three of the rapper’s homes in April, hotel surveillance video from 2016 leaked in May appeared to corroborate her claims. Since Cassie’s initial filing, numerous other alleged victims have come forward with similar lawsuits.
Additionally, Wednesday’s latest batch of documents show that U.S. attorneys claim that “in addition to these women, the defendant has assaulted a host of other individuals, including his employees and witnesses to his violence … including by throwing these witnesses against walls and onto the ground, choking them and throwing objects at them, among other things.”
“In doing so, the defendant has demonstrated that he is not only a danger to victims and witnesses but is also obstructive and willing to engage whatever is necessary — including physical violence — to instill fear in witnesses to keep them silent,” the docs detailed. “All of this violence, against victims, witnesses and others, factors into the analysis of the defendant’s dangerousness.”
A trial date has not been set.
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