Accused of sex trafficking, how P. Diddy prepares his defense

P. Diddy does not lose hope of regaining freedom, at least until his trial. According to the TMZ website, the billionaire rapper’s lawyers have filed a new appeal aimed at convincing the judge to let him return home after posting $50 million bail. Accused of sex trafficking and extortion, real name Sean Combs hopes to be able to return home to Miami, promising to respect many rules: no passport, no right to receive women at home except those from his family, and obviously a ban on contact with witnesses and alleged victims.

For the moment, his request has been rejected twice, despite the insistence of his lawyers who pointed out that he was even trying to sell his private jet, proof according to them that he will not try to escape. Since his client’s arrest on September 16 in New York, his main defender, Marc Agnifilo, has repeated that P. Diddy should not be in prison, citing in particular his conditions of detention.

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The artist’s main lawyer is well known to the courts. In recent years, he has represented some of the most controversial and high-profile cases in the United States. He notably defended Keith Raniere, the founder of the NXIVM sect, accused of sex trafficking and extortion and sentenced to 120 years in prison in 2019. He was also alongside DSK on May 19, 2011when the Frenchman was indicted in New York for sexual assault. Six years later, the firm for which he was lead lawyer was also hired by Harvey Weinstein to complete his team. Another media profile, that of Roger Ng, an employee of Goldman Sachs who was convicted in 2022 for corruption and bribery as part of a project involving the Malaysian sovereign fund.

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Importantly, this former Manhattan assistant district attorney and former supervisor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office is known for spending nearly two decades working for Diddy’s longtime attorney Ben Brafman before striking out on his own.

Diddy pleads not guilty

The day after his arrest, the rapper pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. Marc Agnifilo has, since then, constantly reminded that his client would be ready to fight to make his truth heard. And his defense is aggressive to say the least. To justify the acts of which he is accused, P. Diddy asserts that the alleged victims, who now number in the dozens, would have consented and hoped to become famous. “We are not simply denying the guilt of the accused, rather we are presenting detailed and specific facts that undermine the government’s basic theory,” Marc Agnifilo wrote in a letter in September.

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Authorities say Puff Daddy manipulated, abused and drugged his alleged male and female victims, forcing them to have sex. Lawyer’s response: “These are consenting adults doing what consenting adults do, you know, we can’t be so puritanical in this country that we think sex is a bad thing because if it’s was the case, there would be no one left.” Since this declaration, Tony Buzbee, a powerful Texas lawyer, has announced that he has put together a case for 120 alleged victims, including 25 minors, including a 9-year-old child.

Another incriminating element found by investigators during their searches at P. Diddy’s home last March, this thousand bottles of baby oil and lubricant which were allegedly used in what the authorities described as “freak off” sex parties. depraved places where victims were allegedly sexually assaulted. “I don’t know where this figure comes from,” Marc Agnifilo responded to TMZ before continuing with a defense that was surprising to say the least: “He has a big house, he buys in lots. I think there are Costcos (American supermarket chain, editor’s note) in every place where he has a house. But it did not take long before the chain of stores denied selling such products in the United States, refusing to be associated with the scandal.

Responses to the accusations

As for the video broadcast by CNN, showing P. Diddy hitting his then partner, the singer Cassie, in a Manhattan hotel, the lawyer also provides a controversial response. According to him, the young woman who was the first to file a complaint against her client for rape, sexual and psychological abuse before entering into a financial agreement with him, would herself be the cause of her client’s outburst of violence. . The journalist Matthew Russell Lee published on X (formerly Twitter) a statement from the lawyer: “Two people were in this room. The problem arose from the fact that Mr. Combs had more than one girlfriend. Victim number 1 (Cassie) looked over his phone and found him, hit him in the head with his phone, then took his clothes. So he came out with a towel.” A scene which precedes the images published by CNN in which we see Diddy running after his partner and throwing her to the ground before hitting her. According to the lawyer, the couple were in love but unfaithful to each other. “Victim number 1 ended up marrying the sports coach that Mr. Combs had hired for her. They have been wrong for years. […] Mr. Combs is far from perfect. These toxic relationships were mutual. Now he’s trying to be a better person for the rest of his life. If there’s one thing we know, it’s that we should support people who want to get help.”

Among the other accusations, notably those concerning the “freak offs” organized by P. Diddy and which were allegedly filmed in secret, Marc Agnifilo retorts: “They were simple threesomes”. Extortion charges against a background of firearms? “The weapons belonged to the security personnel, not him.” The accusers? People looking for money.

Despite the risk this represents, particularly of damning cross-examination, P. Diddy would be prepared to testify on the stand at his trial. “He can’t wait to tell his story.” He has his own story, which only he can tell, a human story, of love, of wounds,” says his lawyer. According to the latter, his client is a victim of the federal authorities who would like to “demolish a successful black man”. “They are looking into his things. His business is going well. They’re looking at his taxes. He pays his taxes. He does everything correctly. What is the last vestige to attack? We’re going to go into his room because maybe we don’t like the way he makes love.”