In his sex trafficking case, Sean “Diddy” Combs will go before the judge for the first time on Thursday
Sean “Diddy” Combs is going to court on Thursday for his trial on sex trafficking charges that go back to 2008.
Sean “Diddy” Combs is going to meet the judge for the first time. The judge will be in charge of the hip-hop mogul’s hearing on sex trafficking charges.
Combs is scheduled to appear in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon. He will be taken from a jail in Brooklyn to the Manhattan court.
At the hearing, deadlines will likely be set for lawyers on both sides to present their cases. These will set the parameters for a trial that Combs’ lawyers want to begin in April or May. The prosecutors haven’t said when they’d like the trial to happen.
The judge was put in charge of the case after another judge dropped out because he had a connection with one of the lawyers involved.
Combs, 54, has said he is not guilty of the charges that were brought against him last month. Racketeering plot and sex trafficking were among the charges, which were based on claims from 2008.
According to the charge, Combs forced and abused women for years with the help of a network of friends and coworkers. He tried to silence his victims by threatening them with violence and kidnapping, setting fires, and beating them.
While he has been in jail since September 16, his lawyers have been unsuccessful in getting the founder of Bad Boy Records released on bail.
There are two judges who think that Combs will hurt people if he is freed.
A judge turned down a $50 million bail package with home detention and electronic monitoring three weeks ago because they thought Combs would tamper with witnesses and get in the way of an ongoing probe.
Combs’ lawyers took his case to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, asking a group of judges to overturn the bail decisions. They said that Combs would not be a danger to anyone and would not be able to contact any witnesses.
They asked the appeals court to overturn the decision of a lower court judge who, in their words, “backed up the government’s exaggerated claims and ordered Mr. Combs’ detention.”
