Diddy lawyer quits sex trafficking case: “Under no circumstances can I continue”

Documents show attorney Anthony Ricco had “respectfully but regrettably” requested to be removed from the case

One of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyers has quit the disgraced rap mogul’s criminal sex trafficking case, new court papers show.

Anthony Ricco filed a motion on Friday (February 21) to withdraw as one of Diddy’s six defence attorneys, writing: “Under no circumstances can I continue to effectively serve as counsel for Sean Combs, consistent with the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice.”

The Bad Boy Records artist was arrested and charged with crimes including sexual trafficking and racketeering last September and is currently in a federal jail awaiting trial, and has consistently denied all allegations raised against him.

Documents obtained by Rolling Stone show Ricco had “respectfully but regrettably” requested that Judge Arun Subramanian allow him to remove himself from the case, although the two-page motion did not go into further detail about why Ricco was abruptly departing.

The Harlem-born lawyer has become prolific for working on several high-profile cases, including the Embassy Bombing case in 1998, United States v. Usama Bin Laden in 2001, as well as taking on 45 federal death penalty cases in New York alone before the practice was outlawed.

The attorney suggested the cause for his affidavit’s “brevity” is that he didn’t want to divulge any information protected by attorney-client privilege, and assured the judge his resignation wouldn’t delay the trial.

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Set for May 5, Combs “will continue to be represented by five other attorneys of record” at trial.

News of Ricco’s departure from his case comes just after a rare legal win for Combs, following a woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by Diddy and Jay-Z in 2000 voluntarily withdrawing her lawsuit last week.

The suit was first filed back in December by Jane Doe, who alleged she was sexually assaulted by both artists at a VMA after-party.

Roc Nation founder Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, had continually denied the “heinous” accusation after Doe named him in an amended complaint in December, and had previously hit out at his accuser’s lawyer for “getting basic facts wrong”.

Attorneys for Combs celebrated the news, saying: “For months, we have seen case after case filed by individuals hiding behind anonymity, pushed forward by an attorney more focused on media headlines than legal merit. Just like this claim, the others will fall apart because there is no truth to them.”

Meanwhile, earlier this month it was reported that Diddy was expected to be hit with over 10 new civil lawsuits, according to a lawyer representing dozens of his alleged victims.

Prior to that, he was accused of threatening to eat the flesh of one of the contestants on his 2000s music competition show Making The Band. 

For more help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.