Sean Combs was arrested in Manhattan on Monday evening and held overnight ahead of his Tuesday arraignment. On Tuesday, there was an hours-long hearing over bail, with Combs’ lawyers asking for Combs to be released on a $50 million bond. After a few closed-door sessions, the judge said absolutely not, no bail in this case. Combs’ lawyers immediately appealed. They were shut down again on Wednesday and Combs remains remanded to jail. I thought this was primarily about the flight risk Combs poses, but apparently the prosecution is much more worried about witness tampering.
Sean “Diddy” Combs was denied bail again on Wednesday, Sept. 18, a day after a federal judge in Manhattan remanded him to await trial at a jail in Brooklyn.
The rapper was initially denied bail during his arraignment in Manhattan’s federal court on Tuesday, Sept. 17, and remanded to jail. A different judge denied his request for bail on Wednesday. Combs’ legal team promptly appealed the judge’s decision to deny bail, and returned to court the following afternoon. In a Sept. 17 letter to the judge, Combs’ lawyers described conditions at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as “horrific” and “not fit for pre-trial detention.”
His defense proposed in court Wednesday that Combs live at home alone in Florida with a 24/7 security team that would monitor a pre-approved guest list. He offered to give up any access to his cell phone or internet, and in the words of his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, “do nothing but prepare for his trial.”
But Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. said that “there is no condition or combination of conditions to ensure he will not obstruct justice or tamper with witnesses.”
Combs, dressed in the same black shirt and gray striped sweatpants he wore during his first bail hearing on Tuesday, dipped his head, looking down at the defense table when he heard the judge’s decision.
In a 14-page indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York Tuesday, Combs was charged with one count each of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution. Calling Combs “a serial abuser,” Assistant District Attorney Emily A. Johnson said in court Tuesday that the rapper had demonstrated a “pattern of abuse” and for years been “undeterred” by law enforcement. “He is an extreme danger to the community,” she added.
“There is no condition or combination of conditions to ensure he will not obstruct justice or tamper with witnesses” – that’s WILD. I mean, think about how wealthy people are treated by the American justice system. Think about the kind of offer Combs’ lawyers made to the court: no internet, no cell phone, house arrest, monitors. And the judge was like “nah, he would still find a way to bribe, threaten, extort, harass, cajole and abuse.” Which is true, Combs absolutely would find a way, and the prosecution already has evidence that Combs has done just that. Justice was delayed, but it seems like it’s all happening now.
Speaking of, one of Combs’ most outspoken critics and whistle-blowers has always been Aubrey O’Day. For years – decades – she’s been openly discussing his abuse and for years, Combs has been doing the most to punish her career. After years of trying to raise Sean Combs’ issues, she finally feels validated.
The purpose of Justice is to provide an ending and allow us the space to create a new chapter. Women never get this. I feel validated. Today is a win for women all over the world, not just me.
Things are finally changing.
— Aubrey O’Day (@AubreyODay) September 17, 2024
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.