NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs was denied bail on Wednesday as he awaits a May sex trafficking trial by a judge who cited evidence showing him to be a “serious risk” of witness tampering and proof he has tried to hide prohibited communications with third parties while incarcerated.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian ruled in a five-page order following a bail hearing last week. At the hearing, lawyers for the hip-hop mogul argued that a $50 million bail package they proposed would be sufficient to ensure Combs doesn’t flee and doesn’t try to intimidate prospective trial witnesses.
Two other judges previously had agreed with prosecutors that the Bad Boy Records founder was a danger to the community if he is not behind bars. Subramanian concurred.
“There is compelling evidence of Combs's propensity for violence,” Subramanian wrote.
Lawyers for Combs did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the decision. Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for prosecutors, declined comment.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he coerced and abused women for years, aided by associates and employees. An indictment alleges that he silenced victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
A federal appeals court judge last month denied Combs’ immediate release while a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan considers his bail request. That appeal was put on hold while Subramanian, newly appointed to the case after an earlier judge stepped aside, considered the bail request for the first time.
Subramanian said he took a fresh look at all the bail arguments and the evidence supporting them to make his decision.
Prosecutors have insisted that no bail conditions would be sufficient to protect the public and prevent the “I'll Be Missing You” singer from fleeing.
They say that even in a federal lockup in Brooklyn, Combs has orchestrated social media campaigns designed to influence prospective jurors and tried to publicly leak materials he thinks can help his case. They say he also has contacted potential witnesses through third parties.
Lawyers for Combs say any alleged sexual abuse described in the indictment occurred during consensual relations between adults and that new evidence refutes allegations that Combs used his “power and prestige” to induce female victims into drugged-up, elaborately produced sexual performances with male sex workers known as “Freak Offs.”
Subramanian said evidence shows Combs to be a “serious risk of witness tampering,” particularly after he communicated over the summer with a grand jury witness and deleted some of his texts with the witness.
The judge also cited evidence showing that Combs violated Bureau of Prisons regulations during pretrial detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn when he paid other inmates to use their phone code numbers so he could make calls to individuals who were not on his approved contact list.
He said there was also evidence that he told family members and defense counsel to add other people to three-way calls so their communications would be more difficult to trace and that he made efforts to influence his trial's jury pool or to reach potential witnesses.
Subramanian said his “willingness to skirt” jailhouse rules to conceal communications was “strong evidence” that any conditions of release would not prevent similar behavior.
The judge said defense claims that Combs stopped using one particular phone technique criticized by prosecutors was belied by the fact that Combs apparently used it again on Sunday, two days after his bail hearing last week.
Even a bail proposal that would include the strictest form of home confinement seemed insufficient, the judge said.
“Given the nature of the allegations in this case and the information provided by the government, the Court doubts the sufficiency of any conditions that place trust in Combs and individuals in his employ — like a private security detail — to follow those conditions,” Subramanian wrote.
FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the LA Premiere of "The Four: Battle For Stardom" at the CBS Radford Studio Center on May 30, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)
Liverpool is 100% on top of the Champions League after dumping title holder Real Madrid into an almost unbelievable 24th place in the 36-team standings on Wednesday.
No one felt the embarrassment of Madrid’s 2-0 loss at Anfield more than Kylian Mbappé, the superstar added in the offseason by the storied club that also was European champion against Liverpool in the finals of 2022 and 2018.
Mbappé had a penalty saved in the second half and was earlier dumped on his behind by Conor Bradley’s superb tackle in an instant viral moment.
Only Liverpool has started the new Champions League format with five wins and first-year coach Arne Slot's team is two points clear of Inter Milan. Barcelona is third, trailing Liverpool by three points.
Madrid is, remarkably, with three rounds left just one place above being eliminated. The top eight teams at the end of January go direct to the round of 16 in March, and teams placed from ninth to 24th enter a round of two-leg playoffs in February.
“(This) doesn’t change much, because even with a win it was going to be tough to secure a top-eight finish,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. ”It was a fair result."
Monaco missed a chance to go second in the table, giving up a lead playing with 10 men from the 58th minute in a 3-2 loss at home to Benfica. Swiss forward Zeki Amdouni scored the winning goal in the 88th.
Borussia Dortmund, the beaten finalist against Madrid in May, is up to fourth place after beating Dinamo Zagreb 3-0. Champions League standout Jamie Gittens now has four goals in five games, curling a rising shot in the 41st to open the scoring in Croatia.
The best comeback was at PSV Eindhoven, where the home team trailed Shakhtar Donetsk by two goals in the 87th minute before a 3-2 win was sealed by United States forward Ricardo Pepi’s goal deep in stoppage time.
US defender Cameron Carter-Vickers scored an embarrassing own goal for Celtic — playing a no-look pass far beyond goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel — in a 1-1 draw with Club Brugge.
“One of those things,” Schmeichel said. “Cam gets pressed and he hasn’t heard me shout that I’m not in (goal).”
Congo teammates Ngal’Ayel Mukau and Silas impressed in wins for Lille and Red Star Belgrade.
Mukau scored twice in 12th-place Lille’s 2-1 win at Bologna and Silas leveled for Red Star in a 5-1 rout of Stuttgart, though he barely celebrated his goal. Silas is on loan with the Serbian champion from Stuttgart.
Aston Villa's 0-0 draw with Juventus was preserved by an excellent save by Emiliano Martinez, the World Cup-winning Argentina goalkeeper, diving low to push away a header from Francisco Conceição.
Liverpool’s stand-in right back Bradley was a standout Wednesday, denying Mbappé at high speed in a signature defensive play in the 32nd.
The 21-year-old Northern Ireland defender, deputizing for fit-again Trent Alexander-Arnold, joined the attack in the 52nd to play a key pass returning the ball to Alexis Mac Allister who scored the opening goal.
After Mbappé’s penalty was pushed away by goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher in the 61st, Liverpool star Mo Salah missed with his spot-kick in the 70th, before substitute Cody Gakpo sealed the win with a header in the 77th.
Madrid now has lost three of five games after defeats at Lille and at home to AC Milan. The record 15-time European champion has another tough trip next, at fifth-place Atalanta on Dec. 10. On the same date, Liverpool is at 30th-place Girona and looks to be cruising into the round of 16.
“You know how special it is to play against a team that has won the Champions League so many times," Liverpool coach Slot said of Madrid. “They were a pain for Liverpool for many years too.”
Red Star Belgrade and Sturm Graz ended four-game losing runs to get their first points and wins.
Red Star rallied against Stuttgart after the German team led in the fifth minute. The 1991 European Cup winner’s goal to level the game in the 12th was scored by on-loan Silas. He held up his hands as if in apology as part of a low-key celebration.
Sturm Graz won 1-0 against Girona, the Spanish newcomer to European competitions. It was the Austrian champion’s first Champions League game since coach Christian Ilzer left to join Hoffenheim.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Liverpool's Cody Gakpo, center, scores his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Monaco's players celebrate after their teammate Soungoutou Magassa scoring his side's 2nd goal against Benfica during a Champions League opening phase soccer match at the Louis II stadium in Monaco, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Liverpool's manager Arne Slot and Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti, in the background, stand by the touchline before the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister, left, celebrates with Luis Diaz after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Supporters light flares during the Champions League soccer match between Dinamo Zagreb and Dortmund at Maksimir Stadium, in Zagreb, Croatia, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
A general view as pyrotechnics are set off during pre-match entertainment before the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Astin Villa and Juventus at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (David Davies/PA via AP)
Red Star's Cherif Ndiaye reaches for a header over Stuttgart's Jeff Chabot during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Red Star and Stuttgart at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Supporters of Red Star celebrate after Mirko Ivanic scored his side's third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Red Star and Stuttgart at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Red Star's Silas, right, celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Red Star and Stuttgart at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Celtic's Cameron Carter-Vickers, left, after scoring an own goal for Club Brugge during the UEFA Champions League opening phase soccer stage match at Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Wednesday Nov. 27, 2024. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)
Dortmund's Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, right, celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the Champions League soccer match between Dinamo Zagreb and Dortmund at Maksimir Stadium, in Zagreb, Croatia, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo)
Liverpool's Conor Bradley tackles Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, left, during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher saves a penalty from Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister, left, celebrates with Luis Diaz after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
