(NewsNation) — The last 24 hours for Sean “Diddy” Combs has been a period of denial, developments and details.
Diddy’s lawyers filed a fourth request for bail in a Manhattan federal court Friday, citing new evidence in his case on sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
Also on Friday, a judge rejected his “unprecedented” gag order request, filed last month, that would bar victims and their lawyers from speaking publicly about the case.
The rapper’s attorneys claimed “inflammatory extrajudicial statements” were impeding his right to a fair trial. But Judge Arun Subramanian contended implementing a gag order would violate the victims’ free speech under the First Amendment.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sexual misconduct allegations, lawsuits: Timeline
“The unprecedented relief that Combs seeks on this motion is unwarranted,” the judge wrote in his ruling.
One of the alleged victims’ lawyers, Ariel Mitchell, has been granting interviews to NewsNation for several months, revealing shocking details about what happened to her client.
Mitchell told NewsNation’s “Banfield” Thursday that her client, Courtney Burgess, was given 11 flash drives containing at least eight sex tapes involving eight celebrities.
Diddy’s team “is pissed, to say the least,” she said.
Diddy’s lawyer: ‘Improper pretrial publicity’ preventing fair trial
In September, Mitchell told NewsNation that another client of hers was contacted about the sale of one of the musician’s alleged sex tapes.
“I can tell the video was pornographic. This was in his Atlanta home, and it does seem like the person isn’t looking into the video,” Mitchell said. To me, it doesn’t seem like that person knows they’re being videotaped.”
“These prospective witnesses and their lawyers have made numerous inflammatory extrajudicial statements aimed at assassinating Mr. Combs’s character in the press,” said Diddy’s attorney Marc Agnifilo in the Oct. 20 motion.
His lawyers have persistently requested the release of their client since his September arrest, proposing a $50 million bail package on four occasions. The previous three requests were denied.
Diddy’s team ‘pissed’ about flash drive video claims: Lawyer
In their fourth request, the proposed bail package updated its conditions, suggesting Diddy undergo “strict 24/7 security monitoring” and “near-total restrictions on Mr. Combs’ ability to contact individuals other than counsel” during at-home detention.
This “will reasonably assure the appearance of [Mr. Combs] as required and the safety of any other person and the community,” the motion said.
It also calls the government’s case “thin.”
The defense claims to have received 23.5 terabytes of new material that was unknown at the time of previous hearings.
“The new material demonstrates that the government previously misrepresented the weight of the evidence. And it undermines the government’s claim that Mr. Combs presents a danger,” the motion said.
Diddy’s trial is set for May 5. He remains incarcerated at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center.