Diddy's Lawyers Compare Him to Trump to Get Bail Before Thanksgiving: "Speak Out Against..."
Trigger Warning: This article contains themes of sexual abuse that some readers may find distressing.
Having been denied bail on multiple occasions, Sean "Diddy" Combs is still being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn pending trial. Recently, his defense team made a strange comparison between his legal troubles and Donald Trump's presidential immunity case (Trump v. United States) after prosecutors argued that the music mogul used an online 'PR campaign' to sway prospective jurors in his sex trafficking case. Diddy's team said he had the right to 'criticize and speak out against the prosecution...that seek to take away his liberty,' citing an appellate ruling that affirmed defendants' extensive free speech rights under the First Amendment.
As per the Daily Beast, Trump frequently used social media to sway public opinions about the trial, which raised concerns about whether or not his remarks amounted to obstruction of justice, Trump's lawyers had thus previously argued, "Only a significant and imminent threat to the administration of criminal justice will support restricting Mr. Trump's speech.” As such, Diddy's attorneys also claimed, “The court should apply Trump’s heightened standard when considering Mr. Combs’ speech." They also said in the filing that Diddy's version of events, i.e. he is a 'revolutionary' and the prosecution may have 'racist' motives, came under the tenets of 'core protected speech.' They concluded by stating that Combs wasn't capable of swaying public opinion towards him from behind bars.
In another recent development, prosecutors were directed by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian to destroy copies of handwritten notes that were found in the music mogul's jail cell. According to Newsweek, 19 pages of notes were taken from the Last Night rapper, and investigators allegedly took pictures of his 'legal' pad. However, his legal team said that attorney-client privilege should 'protect' the notes and that officials conducted the raid in order to keep Diddy locked up.
While the prison said the motive behind the raid was to get rid of contraband, Diddy's lawyers argued that was not so. According to his legal team, Combs was the victim of a targeted raid by prison officials, who then took his personal items and turned them over to the government. "This is a matter of grave concern that, most respectfully, must be addressed immediately," the Bad Boy for Life rapper's attorney Marc Agnifilo stated in a court filing to Judge Subramanian. As such, the judge also ruled, "The government should not be in possession of the 19 pages," while ordering the original documents remain in the court's custody before further legal briefs were submitted to determine if the papers could be used in the upcoming trial.
If you are being subjected to sexual assault, or know of anyone who is, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673)
