Diddy’s Sex-Trafficking Trial Will Not Be Delayed

Sean “Diddy” Combs’s legal team requested his sex-trafficking trial be delayed by two months in an April 16 letter to the judge. They cited a superseding indictment from earlier in April that included new charges and victims. But prosecutors opposed the delay, and now, the judge has denied the request, setting up the trial to start on May 5.

Diddy requests a delay

April 16: Lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs are requesting a two-month delay in his sex-trafficking trial, which is slated to start May 5 in New York. Diddy’s team said in a letter to the judge that the delay will give them “the necessary time to prepare his defense” after a new superseding indictment in the case, Billboard reported on April 16. The latest indictment, from earlier this month, included additional counts of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution from a new victim. Attorneys Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos previously requested at least a two-week delay during a hearing on April 14 — where Diddy pleaded not guilty to the new charges — and accused prosecutors of failing to share evidence. Prosecutors, meanwhile, claimed this could just be a stalling tactic from Diddy’s team. Judge Arun Subramanian gave Diddy’s lawyers a deadline of today to submit their request for a delay, saying the case was “a freight train moving toward trial.”

The next hearing is April 18. And Diddy’s team could include a new face by then. On April 15, Brian Steel — best known for defending Young Thug in the YSL trial — requested to be admitted to the trial as an attorney for Diddy, also per Billboard. Diddy’s charges include one count of racketeering, which was the central charge against Young Thug as well. Another member of Diddy’s defense team, Anthony Ricco, previously quit the case in February.

Diddy’s delay denied

April 18: Diddy’s sex-trafficking trial will start on time. Judge Arun Subramanian denied a request from Diddy’s legal team to delay the trial by two months, per CNN. “It is unclear why there isn’t sufficient time to prepare,” Subramanian told Diddy’s lawyers during an April 18 hearing. Subramanian also made a number of other rulings during the hearing, including to allow three of the alleged victims to testify under pseudonyms. Victim No. 1, Cassie Ventura, plans to testify under her own name.