NEW YORK (AP) — Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs filed a new request for bail on Friday, saying changed circumstances, along with new evidence, mean the hip-hop mogul should be allowed to prepare for a May trial from outside jail.
Lawyers for Combs filed the request in Manhattan federal court, where his previous requests for bail have been rejected by two judges since his September arrest on racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges that he coerced and abused women for years with help from a network of associates and employees, while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
He has been awaiting a May 5 trial at a federal detention facility in Brooklyn.
In their new court filing, lawyers for Combs say they are proposing a “far more robust” bail package that would subject the entertainer to strict around-the-clock security monitoring and near-total restrictions on his ability to contact anyone but his lawyers. But the amount of money they attach to the package remains $50 million, as they proposed before.
They also cite new evidence that they say “makes clear that the government's case is thin.” That evidence, the lawyers said, refutes the government's claim that a March 2016 video showing Combs physically assaulting his then-girlfriend occurred during a coerced “freak off,” a sexually driven event described in the indictment against Combs.
They wrote that the encounter was instead “a minutes-long glimpse into a complex but decade-long consensual relationship” between Combs and his then-girlfriend.
The lawyers argued that the jail conditions Combs is experiencing at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn violate his constitutional rights to participate in his defense.
A spokesperson for prosecutors declined to comment.
FILE - Music mogul and entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the Billboard Music Awards, May 15, 2022, in Las Vegas. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
Sean 'Diddy' Combs seeks bail, citing changed circumstances and new evidence
Sean 'Diddy' Combs seeks bail, citing changed circumstances and new evidence
Cleveland has won its first 12 games and is off to the best start in the league. There are 10 teams in the Western Conference with winning records. And somehow, only two teams in the Eastern Conference have winning records.
There is a common denominator on both sides of the ledger: Everybody is hurt. At least it seems that way.
Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey have yet to play together for Philadelphia. Khris Middleton hasn’t debuted this season for Milwaukee. Same goes for Kawhi Leonard with the Los Angeles Clippers. New Orleans — already without CJ McCollum and Dejounte Murray — is bracing for weeks without Zion Williamson, and the injury news got even worse Tuesday with the announcement that Jose Alvarado will be out for at least three weeks.
Orlando will be missing Paolo Banchero for probably 10 more games, at minimum. Scottie Barnes is sidelined in Toronto. Phoenix's Kevin Durant, Memphis' Ja Morant and Miami's Jimmy Butler are all likely out for a week or two. And now Oklahoma City is facing months without Chet Holmgren, who missed what would have been his entire first season, then played every game last season, and now is out.
“On one hand I know how to approach it, I know what to do, what not to do and how beautiful the other side is,” Holmgren wrote on social media after getting hurt Sunday night. “But on the other hand I’ve felt the frustration of this process, and the wear it puts on your mind.”
By any measure — also including the absence of San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich for medical reasons — the first three weeks of this season have not gone well on the NBA health front.
Plenty of teams are depleted going into this week's start of the NBA Cup — the new name for what was called the In-Season Tournament a year ago when it debuted. Among Tuesday's tournament games on the colorful courts: Dallas at Golden State, in Klay Thompson's return to the Bay Area for the first time in anything other than a Warriors uniform.
“To me, it's just another regular-season game in November,” Thompson said, downplaying what certainly will be more than that.
It'll mean plenty to the Warriors. “We've had homecomings before,” Golden State star Stephen Curry said, “but nothing like this. ... He deserves the celebration and the welcome that he's going to get.”
For some teams — Philadelphia (2-7) and Milwaukee (2-8) among them — maybe the NBA Cup can be the springboard to a much-needed jump-start to the season. The 76ers are getting Embiid back, which obviously will help. The Bucks have Giannis Antetokounmpo but will open tournament play Tuesday against Toronto without Damian Lillard, added to the injury list Monday night because he's in concussion protocol.
“I think you’ll see every team, no matter what their record is, I think people will take it way more serious,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “First of all, I think they understand it now. I did a lot of interviews and I was with a few guys in Vegas who made it (last year for the tournament's final four) and didn’t understand it. They didn’t even know how they got there. Now, I think everybody kind of understands it.”
Teams are in a group of five, play the other four teams once, and the six group winners along with two wild-cards go to the quarterfinals. Win that, and you go to Las Vegas for the semifinals. Indiana made the final last year and it's more than reasonable to say the Pacers learned something from that experience that helped propel them to the East finals last spring.
“Our guys got a real taste of what the elevated stage is all about,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said at the time.
The Pacers entered Monday third in the East, but they lost James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson to Achilles tendon tears early in the season, and now are without Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard.
Nobody, it seems, is safe from the injury bug. Not even the Cavs, who have gotten off to their red-hot start with Max Strus out since the preseason with a sprained ankle.
But they have more than endured, and other teams have found ways to get through being short-handed as well. Boston, for example, just played four games without Jaylen Brown; the defending NBA champions, to no one's surprise, are off to a 9-2 start. Other than the Celtics and Cavs, every team in the East starts play Tuesday at .500 or worse.
The Magic haven't been the same without Banchero. It'll be a test for the Thunder to remain near the top of the West without Holmgren. Those coaches — Orlando's Jamahl Mosley and Oklahoma City's Mark Daigneault — see the absences of their young stars as opportunities for others to grow into evolved roles.
But nobody wants to dig too deep a hole, either. It's early, but what happens now might be the difference for some teams when it's time to fight for seeding in April.
AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee in Milwaukee contributed to this report.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) reacts in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Nikki Boertman)
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid looks over the court after an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Oklahoma City Thunder staff help Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) after he was injured during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
Analysis: Injuries are a common theme for teams off to fast — or slow — starts as NBA Cup begins
Analysis: Injuries are a common theme for teams off to fast — or slow — starts as NBA Cup begins
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren, center, gives a thumbs-up as he is helped off the court by Thunder forward Jaylin Williams, left, and center Isaiah Hartenstein, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
