For the second time in just over a week, Sean “Diddy” Combs wants the judge in his sex-trafficking case to declare a mistrial and kick the whole sordid matter to the curb.
In fact, the government had marked as GX7Y111 the records of this hotel stay, which are now in evidence.
Not content to let the Bongolan matter make their case for mistrial, the defense spend the last pages of the letter rehashing their previous unsuccessful mistrial effort.
Accordingly, the Court should grant a mistrial based on prosecutorial misconduct.” Scheduled to pick up on June 9 for another week, the trial is set to run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
With more testimony from accuser “Jane” expected on Monday and maybe Tuesday, the trial will likely see the prosecution rest its case and the defense will pick up the baton.
For the second time in less than a week, Sean “Diddy” Combs wants the judge in his sex-trafficking case to declare a mistrial and put an end to the entire vile situation.
In a letter to Judge Arun Subramanian today, defense lawyer Alexandra Shapiro cited “prosecutorial misconduct” to argue that this case should not proceed, as a guilty verdict could put Combs in prison for the rest of his life.
“In this trial, the government has presented testimony that it knew or should have known was materially false in relation to its allegation that Mr. Combs dangled Bryana Bongolan from the balcony of Cassie Ventura’s apartment in September 2016,” Shapiro wrote in his correspondence, citing disparities in the testimony given this past week by Cassie Ventura’s close friend and Bongoloan’s height in relation to the founder of Bad Boy Records. Therefore, in order to prevent an unjust conviction in this case, the court ought to grant a mistrial. “”.
Combs, 55, was arrested by a phalanx of federal and police officials in a New York hotel lobby in September 2024 on federal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, transportation to engage in prostitution, and other offenses. The panel of eight men and four women in the courtroom has heard graphic and occasionally heartbreaking testimony about rapes, emotional and physical violence, and other incidents, starting with Combs’ sobbing ex-girlfriend “Jane” and her stories of abuse. Prior to that, Ventura’s friend Bongolan had told the court on Wednesday that Combs had dangled her off a 17th-story balcony on September 26, 2016. They also listen, occasionally with evident discomfort, to stories about drug trafficking, blackmail, and a purported arson attempt on Kid Cudi’s vehicle.
The jurors were also shown footage of a 2018 rape and years of drug-juiced “freak-offs” from Comb’s former personal assistant “Mia,” male escorts, and the then-pregnant “Me and U” singer Ventura. These accounts may have been the most damning.
In contrast to the previous mistrial request in the Diddy case, which was filed on May 28 in the lower Manhattan courtroom where the trial is scheduled to begin on May 12, Judge Subramanian has not issued a prompt order on the most recent motion. Deadline contacted the U.S. today. S. Regarding the most recent mistrial decision, the Southern District of New York Attorney’s Office chose not to comment.
In his somewhat redacted four-page letter, defense lawyer Shapiro recommended that the prosecution own up to what it allegedly knows, thereby discrediting nearly all of Bongolan’s testimony and implicitly the government’s position.
The partner at Shapiro Arato Bach LLP wrote, “The government knew or should have known that this testimony was perjured… and that Ms. Bongolan could not possibly have been injured by Mr. Combs on a Los Angeles balcony in the early hours of September 26 or even the day before that.”.
Shapiro added, “The government has long known that Mr. Combs was on the East Coast in late September, and specifically at around the time of this alleged incident,” with footnotes that made fun of what the feds could learn from a Google search. The pardon was given in light of the current president. The government was aware that he had spent September 24–29, 2016, at the Trump Hotel in New York City. The records of this hotel stay, which are currently in evidence, were actually marked as GX7Y111 by the government. Additionally, it had other evidence for a while that demonstrated Mr. Combs’s itinerary and demonstrated that he was on the East Coast when he told the jury that he had dangled Ms. Bongolan over a balcony in front of Ms. Ventura. “.”.
In their letter, the defense included a link to a New Jersey website that reviewed Diddy’s September 25 performance in Newark on September 26. The link mentioned that “Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy reunion tour ignites Newark, despite B.”. Me. G. “hole” article.
The defense spent the final pages of the letter restating their prior failed attempt at a mistrial, not satisfied with letting the Bongolan case serve as their argument. In particular, regarding Kid Cudi’s destroyed fingerprints. K. “A.”. According to Scott Mescudi (2012), “the government’s intention must have been to imply that Mr. Dot Combs had corrupt influence over the LA authorities all along.”. The letter gets very specific, scrutinizing Combs’ former aide “Mia’s” testimony, which was quite compelling, regarding an incident in which some LAPD officers exonerated the personal assistant of driving violations after she disclosed that she was Diddy’s employee. To put it another way, even if the subsequent interrogation of Mia was legal, it still supports the idea that the government’s true goal in questioning Lance Jiminez, the fire inspector, was to falsely imply that Mr. Dot Combs was corruptly responsible for the fingerprints’ destruction. “.”.
At the end of a week in which the judge chastised Combs for engaging with the jury and threatening to throw him out of the courtroom for his own trial, the letter concludes, “This is just another example of prosecutorial misconduct.”. Consequently, the Court ought to grant a mistrial on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct. “.”.
The trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on June 9 and proceed for an additional week. M. until 3 p.m. m. ET every single day. The prosecution will probably rest its case at the trial, and the defense will take over, as more testimony from accuser “Jane” is anticipated on Monday and possibly Tuesday.
