Sean “Diddy” Combs will not have more time to prepare for his upcoming trial.
During a hearing on Friday, April 18, Judge Arun Subramanian ruled against the defense team’s request to push back the trial’s start date by two months. Following that decision, the trial will begin as planned on Monday, May 5, which is coincidentally the same day as the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Met Gala fundraiser. (Jury selection is expected to begin on May 5, with opening statements expect on Monday, May 12.)
In September 2024, Diddy, 55, was arrested in New York after a grand jury indicted him on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution, to which he pleaded not guilty.
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At the time, Diddy’s attorney Marc Agnifilo said in a statement to Us Weekly that his client was “an imperfect person” but “not a criminal.”
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“Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts,” Agnifilo added. “These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
The following month, a judge ruled that Diddy’s trial would begin on May 5, 2025. Earlier this week, his attorneys filed a motion to delay the trial by two months. USA Today reported that the documents claimed the pause would allow Diddy the “necessary time to prepare his defense” after a third revised indictment was filed.
Diddy’s legal team claimed there was “substantially new conduct” alleged in the latest indictment, which the attorneys claimed prosecutors had evidence of before the initial indictment came down. The defense also alleged that prosecutors were still producing evidence for one of the counts in the indictment.
“Under these circumstances … we cannot, in good conscience, go to trial on the scheduled date,” Diddy’s lawyers said in the filing. “This is a problem that the government has created, yet it opposes our reasonable request.”
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Following the third revised indictment, Diddy’s team told USA Today in a statement, “These are not new allegations or new accusers. These are the same individuals, former long-term girlfriends, who were involved in consensual relationships. This was their private sex life, defined by consent, not coercion.”
Diddy has been behind bars since his arrest, with his multiple attempts at bail being denied. He was ordered to remain in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, until his trial.
In recent months, Diddy has appeared in court but remained out of the public eye since cameras were not allowed inside the hearings. However, a source told Us in December 2024 that he was “fit, healthy and fully focused on his defense,” adding that he “has been very active [and] remains in good spirits.”
Us Weekly
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