A New York federal judge on Friday set a date for Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial.
Judge Arun Subramanian has set the start of jury selection for May 5, with a tentative trial date of May 12, as reported by NBC News. Both the prosecution and defense have been instructed by the judge to file motions if they are unable to agree on whether a video showing Sean Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, can be presented during the trial.
The contentious video in question is a piece of surveillance footage that was made public by CNN in May of last year. It captures Combs dragging and kicking Ventura at a hotel in California back in 2016. Combs’ legal team has alleged that CNN tampered with the video, a claim that the news outlet has refuted. Nonetheless, Combs also released an emotional video of his own following the circulation of the footage, expressing his disgust at his actions and stating his commitment to seeking therapy and rehabilitation to improve himself. This video has since been removed.
READ: Another Indictment Filed Against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in Sex Trafficking Case
A pretrial hearing is on the calendar for April 25, with the possibility of another pretrial conference occurring prior to the commencement of opening statements, according to NBC News’ coverage of the case.
On September 16, 2024, Combs was arrested outside a Manhattan hotel on federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has been denied bail three times, as Judge Andrew L. Carter determined there was a “serious risk” of witness tampering in this case.
Combs’ legal team sought home detention with GPS monitoring. In exchange, they offered to post $50 million bail and to use Combs’ home as collateral.
“The government has proven the defendant is a danger. The bail package is insufficient even on risk of flight,” Carter said while denying Combs’ bail a second time.
In March 2024, federal authorities raided Combs’ homes in Holmby Hills, California, and Miami. Reports indicated that the raid was connected to an ongoing sex trafficking investigation that resulted in his arrest months later.
The reported raids also occurred four months after Ventura accused him of sex trafficking and abuse. In a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, she alleged that Combs drugged her and forced her to have sex with other men. The pair settled the lawsuit a day after its filing.
However, in May, a video surfaced showing Combs assaulting Ventura at a California hotel in 2016. After the video was released, Combs put out a video expressing remorse for his behavior.
Two more accusers came forward a week after Ventura’s lawsuit. One of the women claimed Combs drugged and raped her at Syracuse University in New York in 1991. Combs denied those allegations before a third accuser, Liza Gardner, levied similar allegations against him.
In that case, Gardner claimed Combs and singer-songwriter Aaron Hall drugged and raped her and a friend following an Uptown Records event in 1990. Gardner said she was 16 at the time of the incident. She also accused Combs of choking her a day after the assault
Days after footage of the 2016 assault was publicized, two more women filed lawsuits against Combs. One of those women was April Lampros, a New York Fashion Institute of Technology student who reportedly met Combs in 1994. Lampros accused Combs of sexually assaulting her on four occasions between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s.
Lampros claimed Combs promised to mentor her and connect her with executives in the fashion industry. Instead, Combs allegedly forced her to drink before raping her in a hotel room. Lampros recalled another instance in which Combs forced her to perform oral sex on her in a parking garage while a parking attendant watched.
Combs has been accused of committing or facilitating sexual abuse in at least 30 other lawsuits — including one, filed in October, which alleges he and Jay-Z raped a 13-year-old girl in New York in 2000. The accuser in that case had her lawsuit dismissed in February.
[Feature Photo: Elizabeth Williams via AP]
