Diddy’s RICO case will have trial date in 2025

Diddy appeared in Manhattan federal court on Thursday (October 10) as he attempted his third bail request. At the beginning of the hearing, the judge offered him a trial date of May 5, 2025, which Diddy’s lawyers accepted.

“Judge: May 5th, the trial will begin. Or I’ll give you April if you want,” Inner City Press tweeted. “(Lawyer Marc) Agnifilo: Let’s enjoy May 5th – there is a lot of discovery. Judge: How long will the government’s case last? AUSA Emily Johnson: Three weeks, but…”

Judge: May 5th, trial will begin. Or I’ll give you April if you want.
Agnifilo: We will do it on May 5th – there are many discoveries.
Judge: How long will the government’s case last?
AUSA Emily Johnson: Three weeks, but…

-Inner City Press (@innercitypress) October 10, 2024

The judge also set the discovery hearing for December 18, while Agnifilo sought a gag order.

“Judge: We will hold the next (discovery) conference on December 18th at 2pm. Let’s get back to the defendant’s motion,” Inner City Press tweeted. “Agnifilo: We are asking for a gag order. The concern is that agents have leaked grand jury information and made other damaging statements.”

Federal prosecutors revealed that their investigation is ongoing and that they are considering adding more criminal charges to the original indictment.

The disgraced Bad Boy Records mogul was arrested at a swanky Manhattan hotel on September 16 after a months-long investigation and charged with three crimes: sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transporting individuals for prostitution. Diddy has been denied bail multiple times, but on Wednesday (October 9), his team accused the federal government of leaking Cassie Ventura’s 2016 tape to CNN. They released a lengthy statement, which can be found below.

Defendant Sean Combs seeks four forms of relief related to what the defense believes were a series of illegal government leaks that led to damaging and highly prejudicial pretrial publicity that can only taint the jury and deprive him of a trial fair. Mr. Combs requests: (1) an evidentiary hearing to examine the government’s misconduct in connection with the leaks; (2) discovery of emails, documents and records held by the government (including DHS) related to these leaks; (3) a gag order prohibiting government officials from disclosing any evidence or investigative materials related to this case to any member of the media; and (4) suppression of any evidence leaked by government officials in violation of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) or any other law, rule, or regulation.

The available evidence prima facie demonstrates that the government, primarily through DHS, engaged in a seven-month campaign with three objectives: (i) to prevent Mr. Combs from obtaining fair consideration by the grand jury; (ii) prevent you from obtaining a fair trial; and (iii) strategically leak confidential grand jury material and information, including the 2016 Intercontinental videotape, in order to harm the public and potential jurors against Mr.
The government’s scheme to undermine Mr. Combs’ rights to due process has multiple methods and means. First, there has been a steady stream of false and damaging statements made by DHS agents to various media outlets over the past seven months. Second, agents carried out a public and particularly brutal search of Mr. Combs’ homes, during which they handcuffed Mr. Combs’ innocent children and then marched them to a news helicopter and the press. This was an apparent effort to convey that they had overwhelming evidence against Mr. Combs, justifying the public and brutal treatment of even his children, who were handcuffed and mistreated by federal agents armed with assault rifles. Third, government officials repeatedly leaked grand jury information and materials to the press to increase public hostility toward Mr. Combs before the trial.

The most blatant example of this is the leak to CNN of the 2016 videotape from the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles. As detailed below, the CNN leak was just one in a long and documented history of leaks and false statements made with a single purpose: to destroy Mr. Combs’ reputation before trial. While the government’s misconduct in this case is particularly egregious, it is unfortunately part of a trend in this District – the government has learned that it can strategically leak information with impunity. This Court should exercise its authority to prohibit these underhanded tactics, which seriously undermine a criminal defendant’s right to a fair trial.

From the beginning, the defense wants to make it clear to the Court what our theory is and is not. We do not claim that the leaks were orchestrated by the US Attorney’s Office. Instead, we assert that the false media statements and grand jury leaks complained of below were planned and executed by DHS. As the parties develop more information in this regard, the Court will see that the defense repeatedly contacted prosecutors and asserted, in substance, that their agents were leaking information to the press. However, regardless of the measures taken by the US Attorney’s Office, if any, the escapes continued, even after the arrest. The reason a hearing is necessary is to determine exactly what DHS did and did not do regarding these leaks, and what the U.S. Attorney’s Office did and did not do to stop them.

The evidence of government misconduct is now clear enough that this Court is justified in using its authority to craft appropriate remedies. Mr. Combs requests that this Court order discovery and an evidentiary hearing to investigate the government’s misconduct. The abuse here is clear, but “without a hearing,” it would remain “unknown how far or where the abuse went.” United States v. Walters, 910 F.3d 11, 32 (2d Cir. 2018) (Jacobs, J., concurring). An evidentiary hearing is therefore necessary. Furthermore, if the hearing demonstrates that the violation of grand jury secrecy was intentional, as we expect it will be, the Court should order the suppression of the videotape and/or any other illegally disclosed evidence, as well as other possible sanctions.”

This is a developing story. Check again with TudoHipHop soon in a decision on Diddy’s bail.