The federal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs is scheduled to start May 5, a judge in New York declared Thursday as he set deadlines in the sex trafficking case against the embattled hip-hop mogul.
Federal prosecutor Emily Johnson said the government could take three weeks to present its case against Combs, 54, who pleaded not guilty last month to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. The length of the trial, however, could change if a possible superseding indictment is filed, she told Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan.
Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer for Combs, said the defense’s case could take about a week. Combs, wearing a beige shirt and pants, appeared anxious at times in the packed courtroom, turning to his supporters in the gallery, including his mother, Janice Small Combs, and his children.
Combs, the Grammy-winning artist and founder of Bad Boy Records, has remained jailed in Brooklyn since his Sept. 16 arrest after two separate judges twice denied him bail. While another bail appeal is pending in New York’s 2nd Circuit Court, Subramanian ordered Combs to remain in custody because that application is not before him.
Manhattan federal prosecutors’ sprawling criminal case against Combs is the most serious he faces amid a winding legal saga that has included a new wave of lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault and misconduct over the decades. A federal indictment alleged Combs orchestrated and recorded coerced sex acts during gatherings known as “freak offs.”
Combs faces life in prison if convicted.
Erica Wolff, a lawyer for Combs, has said he “emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors.”
Many of the lawsuits were filed in New York City, where under the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act, a person can still bring forth a sexual abuse complaint even after the statute of limitation has passed. Combs settled one complaint last year in which his former girlfriend, the singer Casandra ‘Cassie’ Ventura, accused him of rape and abuse. A lawyer said Combs “vehemently denies” claims related to that case.
Agnifilo has similarly denied the criminal allegations against him.
“He’s going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might, and the full confidence of his lawyers,” Agnifilo told reporters last month. “And I expect a long battle with a good result for Mr. Combs.”
As part of a joint letter this week from Combs’ lawyers and prosecutors to the trial judge, his defense team said it “continues to assert his right to a speedy trial and intends to request a trial date in April or May 2025, and as consistent with the Court’s trial schedule.”
However, prosecutors told Subramanian there is “voluminous” evidence in the case, including “several terabytes of electronic material,” which they’ve begun to turn over to the defense.
The items already submitted include a complete set of search warrants in the case, a phone belonging to Combs that was seized in March, and reports on his iCloud accounts.
Johnson said Thursday that prosecutors intend to complete discovery for the trial by the end of the year. Ninety-six devices related to the case were seized from Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami and on Combs himself at a Miami airport, she added.
It may take longer to extract data, in part, because a handful of them were found smashed.
Another discovery conference hearing was scheduled for Dec. 18.
Meanwhile, Agnifilo asked for a gag order to be issued in the case, accusing federal agents of leaking grand jury information and making prejudicial comments to the media.
Johnson argued that the defense is simply trying to exclude a “damning piece of evidence” disguised as press statements that did not come from prosecutors.
