Diddy is calling witnesses from prison, prosecutors say

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been breaking jail guidelines by contacting potential witnesses in his upcoming intercourse trafficking trial, prosecutors have alleged.

The music mogul is accused of constructing “relentless efforts” to “corruptly affect witness testimony”, through the use of different inmates’ phone accounts, and utilizing three-way calls to talk to people who find themselves not on his permitted contacts checklist.

Prosecutors mentioned a evaluation of recorded calls additionally discovered that Mr Combs instructed his household to contact potential witnesses in his case, they mentioned in a courtroom submitting.

The 55-year-old rapper, who has pleaded not responsible to all the costs and vehemently denied any wrongdoing, appeared in courtroom on Tuesday as a choose weighed the brand new proof, a part of which was present in a pocket book in his jail cell.

On the listening to on Tuesday, a choose ordered that prosecutors destroy copies of supplies seized in Mr Combs’ jail cell because the choose weighed whether or not they may very well be utilized in courtroom.

Choose Arun Subramanian, who’s overseeing the case, dominated that the US  Legal professional’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York can’t use the fabric or any excerpts from it throughout Combs’ upcoming bail listening to on Friday. The choose mentioned he would look at the supplies and weigh in on whether or not that can be utilized at trial.

Mr Combs’ defence staff claimed that authorities prosecutors illegally seized his private notes throughout a search of his jail cell on the Metropolitan Detention Middle in Brooklyn, the place he has been detained since his arrest on 16 September within the foyer of a Manhattan lodge. They argued a few of the supplies detailed data that’s protected beneath attorney-client privilege, which shields data mentioned between a shopper and an lawyer.

The federal government detailed {that a} “filter” staff went by means of all supplies earlier than they got to prosecutors. “The data at difficulty shouldn’t be protected,” prosecutor Mary Slavik mentioned on the listening to. They argued the data may very well be thought of obstruction of justice and negate the everyday protections of attorney-client privilege.

The musician, who’s finest identified for Nineties hits resembling I will Be Lacking You and Mo’ Cash, Mo’ Issues, has been denied bail since his arrest, with a number of judges citing a danger that he may tamper with witnesses. He is at the moment in custody in Manhattan.

His legal professionals made a renewed bid for bail final week, proposing a $50m (£39.6m) bundle that might see Mr Combs be monitored across the clock by safety personnel, whereas beneath home arrest.

Lawyer Alexandra Shapiro argued it was unattainable for the musician to organize for trial from behind bars due to the “extremely voluminous” quantity of fabric to evaluation, particularly and not using a laptop computer laptop.

She additionally mentioned his preparation has been hampered by situations on the jail, together with frequent lockdowns and officers taking away the pens he makes use of to take notes.

Detention is stripping Mr Combs of “any actual alternative” to be prepared for trial, violating his rights beneath the US Structure, Shapiro mentioned.

In response, prosecutors argued that the request for bail ought to be denied, alleging that Mr Combs “poses severe dangers of hazard and obstruction of those proceedings”.

In courtroom paperwork, they accused the star of orchestrating social media posts to be able to “affect a possible jury pool” at his trial.

Amongst these efforts, they cited an Instagram assertion posted by a girl identified solely as “witness two”, countering allegations made by singer Daybreak Richard in a civil lawsuit in opposition to Mr Combs.

Prosecutors alleged that her assertion was drafted with Mr Combs throughout “a number of texts” and “a number of calls” from jail.

They additional alleged there was a “robust inference” that Mr Combs “paid witness two, after she posted her assertion”.

A video posted by the star’s seven kids on 5 November was additionally cited as proof of a “public relations technique to affect this case”.

The video, which was reported by a number of media retailers, confirmed the household wishing Mr Combs a cheerful birthday throughout a jail cellphone name.

“The defendant then monitored the analytics – ie viewers engagement – and explicitly mentioned together with his household how to make sure that the video had his desired impact on potential jury members on this case,” prosecutors mentioned.

Mr Combs was additionally accused of utilizing the cellphone accounts of a minimum of eight different inmates to make calls, which is in opposition to jail laws; and of “directing others” to orchestrate cost for this entry.

Prosecutors characterised Mr Combs as working a “relentless” scheme to “contact potential witnesses, together with victims of his abuse who might present highly effective testimony in opposition to him”.

Urging the choose to disclaim Mr Combs’ request for bail, the prosecutors wrote that “no set of situations” might get rid of the potential dangers to the trial.

“The defendant has demonstrated an uncanny means to get others to do his bidding – staff, members of the family, and [prison] inmates alike,” they claimed.

“There isn’t a purpose to consider that personal safety personnel could be immune.”

Prosecutors additionally rejected criticism of the situations on the Metropolitan Detention Middle in Brooklyn, citing an interview from the star’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo, who mentioned “meals’s in all probability the roughest half” of Mr Combs’ adjustment to life behind bars.

The BBC has contacted his authorized staff for a response.

Mr Combs’ authorized troubles started final November, when his ex-partner Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura filed a civil lawsuit, alleging incidents of rape and bodily assault between 2007 and 2018.

Though the case was rapidly settled out of courtroom, it led to a flurry of comparable accusations and an investigation by the US Authorities.

The star’s properties had been raided by federal brokers in March, and he was arrested in New York in September.

Mr Combs was charged with three counts of intercourse trafficking and racketeering, in a federal indictment that described allegations of drug-fuelled, days-long sexual performances dubbed as “Freak Offs”.

The musician is concurrently going through greater than two dozen civil circumstances by women and men accusing him of sexual assault, rape and sexual exploitation.

The star has vehemently denied all the fees in opposition to him, and the claims within the civil fits, arguing that the sexual encounters on the coronary heart of his prison case had been all consensual.

In a separate growth on Monday, two separate lawsuits had been filed in opposition to one of many legal professionals identified for spearheading greater than 120 lawsuits in opposition to Mr Combs.

One lawsuit, filed by an unnamed “high-profile particular person” in opposition to Texas lawyer Tony Buzbee, alleged that Mr Buzbee tried to extort him by threatening to make public “completely fabricated and malicious allegations of sexual assault”.

In courtroom paperwork obtained by the BBC, the plaintiff recognized himself as a former affiliate of Diddy and acknowledged attending occasions with the embattled music mogul.

The lawsuit in opposition to Mr Buzbee claims the Houston lawyer follows a “clear playbook” for extorting celebrities involving fabricating allegations and demanding letters in search of cost.

The lawsuit alleges that if the calls for aren’t met, he turns to the media to use public stress.

Mr Buzbee, who denies wrongdoing, described the submitting as a “last-ditch try” to cease him from naming the person.

“It’s apparent that the frivolous lawsuit filed in opposition to my agency is an aggressive try and intimidate or silence me and finally my purchasers,” he mentioned in a press release despatched to the BBC.

“No sum of money was included within the demand letters,” he wrote. “No threats had been made. The demand letters despatched aren’t any totally different than those routinely despatched by legal professionals throughout the nation in all varieties of circumstances.”

A second authorized declare was filed Monday, by an unnamed lady, in New York alleging abusive behaviour towards ladies.

The summons states Mr Buzbee abused his energy as an lawyer and violated the3 unnamed lady whereas representing her as a shopper.

“Plaintiff brings these causes of motion to handle Defendant’s misconduct, which started together with his assault of Plaintiff and escalated throughout his illustration of her in divorce proceedings, the place he prioritized concealing his actions over safeguarding her authorized pursuits,” the declare states.

In a press release to the BBC, the lawyer who filed the go well with, Jeremy Bohrer referred to as Mr Buzbee a hypocrite.

“There may be nothing worse than when a black hat masquerades as a white hat.”

Mr Buzbee has not but responded to the second lawsuit. BBC Information has reached out for remark.