Sean “Diddy” Combs has tried to contact potential witnesses from jail in a bid to sway public opinion forward of his upcoming intercourse trafficking trial, prosecutors have claimed.
The accusations have been made in a Manhattan federal court docket submitting during which the prosecution opposes the 55-year-old rapper’s newest $50m (£39m) bail proposal. A bail listening to is scheduled for subsequent week.
Combs pleaded not responsible to costs that he coerced and abused girls for years with the help of a community of associates and workers, whereas silencing victims by way of blackmail and violence, together with kidnapping, arson and bodily beatings.
He says his sexual relationships have been consensual, and strenuously denies all wrongdoing.
Within the newest step of the continued case, prosecutors say a evaluation of recorded jail calls made by Combs exhibits he has requested members of the family to achieve out to potential victims and witnesses and has urged them to create “narratives” to affect the jury pool.
They are saying he has additionally inspired advertising methods to affect public opinion.
The submitting stated: “The defendant has shown repeatedly – even while in custody – that he will flagrantly and repeatedly flout rules in order to improperly impact the outcome of his case.
“The defendant has proven, in different phrases, that he can’t be trusted to abide by guidelines or circumstances.”
Prosecutors wrote that it may very well be inferred from his behaviour that Combs desires to blackmail victims and witnesses into silence or into offering testimony useful to his defence.
It’s alleged that Combs started breaking guidelines virtually as quickly as he was detained on the Metropolitan Detention Heart in Brooklyn, New York Metropolis, after his arrest in September.
Two judges have concluded he’s a hazard to the neighborhood and liable to fleeing, rejecting two earlier bail requests.
In Combs’s newest request, his attorneys cited modified circumstances, together with new proof, which they stated made it wise to launch him forward of his trial subsequent 12 months.
However prosecutors stated defence attorneys created their newest bail proposal utilizing some proof prosecutors turned over to them, and the brand new materials was already recognized to defence attorneys after they made earlier bail functions.
Of their submission to a choose, prosecutors stated Combs’s behaviour in jail exhibits he should stay locked up.
They cited examples together with Combs enlisting members of the family to plan and perform a social media marketing campaign round his birthday earlier this month, “with the intention of influencing the potential jury in this criminal proceeding”.
They are saying he inspired his seven kids to publish a video to their social media accounts exhibiting them gathered to have a good time his birthday.
Afterwards, they are saying he allegedly monitored the analytics, together with viewers engagement, from contained in the jail and “explicitly discussed with his family how to ensure that the video had his desired effect on potential jury members in this case”.
Prosecutors additionally alleged Combs made clear his intention to anonymously publish info that he thought would assist his defence group.
“The defendant’s efforts to obstruct the integrity of this proceeding also includes relentless efforts to contact potential witnesses, including victims of his abuse who could provide powerful testimony against him,” they wrote.
Combs is at the moment in custody in Manhattan. His prison trial is scheduled for five Could 2025.
