Prosecutors say Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyers want to ‘hijack’ criminal case to fight civil suits

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors say defense attorneys Sean “Diddy” Combs are trying to “steal” the music tycoon’s criminal case from them, demanding that the judge force the early release of evidence, including the identity of his accusers.

In documents filed late Wednesday, prosecutors urged the judge to reject the requests, saying the effort to reveal the identities of potential witnesses in particular was “manifestly improper.”

They said it was inappropriate for defense lawyers to seek disclosure of victims’ identities and details of other evidence that would advance the government’s case.

Defense lawyers also asked that prosecutors’ lawyers be barred from commenting publicly and said the leak to the media jeopardized the rapper’s chances of a fair trial.

Prosecutors said the requests were a “thinly veiled attempt to limit the government’s evidence at this early stage of the case and to hijack the criminal proceedings so the defendant could respond to the civil claims.” This requirement should be categorically rejected, especially in light of the risk it poses to witness safety.”

Prosecutors added: “As the defendant is well aware, his attempt to use this criminal proceeding as a defense to a civil trial has no legal basis.”

Combs, 54, has since been held in a federal prison in Brooklyn. his arrest on September 16awaiting trial, which is scheduled to begin May 5.

One of the reasons the judge rejected the bail package offered by his lawyers was that he posed a risk of obstruction of justice and engaging in witness tampering.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges against him women subjected to coercion and violence for many years with the help of partners and employees.

Prosecutors said that since at least 2008, Combs had been involved in a racketeering conspiracy, using his power and prestige in the entertainment industry to coerce women into prolonged sex acts with male sex workers in so-called “Freak Offs.”

They said he used videos of the attacks as collateral to threaten victims, and they said he also physically attacked women and others, hitting, punching, dragging and kicking them.

Prosecutors said the defense claims the government leaked the video of Combs. attacked his ex-girlfriend Cassie In a Los Angeles hotel hallway on March 5, 2016, CNN’s information was not true.

They said the lawyers were making a “brazen attempt to suppress the damning evidence against him – a video of him brutally beating the victim.”

In May, Combs released a video statement in which he said he took “full responsibility” for his actions in the video against Cassie, an R&B singer whose legal name is Casandra Ventura. She sued him last November, accusing him of years of sexual, physical and emotional abuse. The lawsuit was settled the next day.

“I was disgusted when I did it. Now I’m disgusted,” Combs said in the video.

The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Ventura did.

Combs also faces civil lawsuits from several men and women who claim they were sexually abused by Combs over the past quarter century after being drugged.

Combs’ lawyers asked for an injunction against prosecutors and their lawyers from making public statements, saying they had already made “numerous inflammatory out-of-court statements designed to destroy Mr. Combs’ reputation in the press.”

More than a dozen lawsuits filed in Manhattan federal court have been assigned to different judges, leading to different early decisions on whether the charges had merit.

In one case, a judge ruled Wednesday that a Tennessee woman who claims Combs raped her in 2004 when she was 19 must proceed with anonymity or not at all. The judge wrote that defendants have a right to investigate those who sue them, and the public has a right to know who is coming to court.

Combs’ attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.