Sean "Diddy" Combs is not going down without a fight. On Thursday, the hip-hop mogul and his legal team counterattacked against the federal government with a document claiming that agents lied to get judges to sign search warrants allowing them to search his properties and electronic devices. The crux of their argument? The so-called "freak-off" tapes videos that the defense claims were already in federal hands before the dramatic raids even occurred.
Diddy's lawyers contend that the government "sought several warrants to search Mr. Combs's residences, electronic devices, and person, and it presented a grossly distorted picture of the facts." And lawyer Alexandra A.E. Shapiro said the prosecution "consciously suppressed damning evidence" that would undermine their case, including text messages between purported victims and Diddy.
"The warrant applications reflected a wildly distorted view of reality," Shapiro wrote. "The government possessed, for example, a range of evidence…of Victim-1's voluntary and consensual participation in the purported 'freak-offs' (FOs), which was not coerced, as the government implied in its applications."
Diddy sodas with son King C (Diddy is dealing with a mountain of legal trouble that includes RICO and sex trafficking charges; the musician is currently locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since being arrested in September. Prosecutors claim that he led a criminal operation that orchestrated drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and obstruction of justice.
His legal team is questioning the credibility of the charges and how evidence has been collected. The motion claims federal agents have offered "misleading and selective accounts" while ignoring significant details that could undermine their account.
"We are not talking here about a few ancillary facts omitted," Shapiro claimed. "This is a case of systematic deception."
The defense is now seeking a Franks hearing, a type of legal proceeding in which a court determines whether the government knowingly lied when applying for search warrants. This hearing could suppress crucial evidence, which would be a significant setback for the prosecution's case if granted.
Another big sticking point in the case is the allegedly "freak-off" tapes, which prosecutors say are damning evidence of Diddy's involvement in sex trafficking. But his attorneys say that federal investigators had already had those recordings well before the raids. Therefore, the government knew their existence and knowingly concealed that fact to obtain a valid justification for the extreme measures taken.
"The government's claims of obstruction were largely predicated on particular texts and statements taken out of context," Shapiro said, claiming that many "witnesses had a financial incentive to fabricate or embellish."
But the prosecution paints a different picture. They allege that Diddy has embarked on a course of witness tampering, using social media and even other inmates' phone privileges to sway public opinion.
Diddy was ordered to be held without bail despite offering a mind-boggling $50 million, as the presiding judge was concerned that he would be able to tamper with justice.
With his trial scheduled for May 2025, the fight over evidence is becoming a major legal battleground. Should the court grant the Franks hearing and make a ruling in Diddy's favor, it could be a significant blow to the prosecution's case. However, if the government can convince the court that the search warrants were legally obtained, that argument presents an uphill challenge for Diddy's defense as they are ready for a trial. Diddy is not backing down; the legal war is just starting
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