WARNING: This story contains details of intimate partner violence.
A second judge refused to grant bail to Sean (Diddy) Combs on Wednesday, saying the government had proved “by clear and convincing evidence” that no amount of bail could guarantee the hip-hop mogul won’t tamper with witnesses.
U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter handed down the ruling after prosecutors and defence lawyers presented strenuous arguments for and against a $50 million US bail package that would allow Combs to be released to home detention with GPS monitoring and strict limitations on who could visit him.
Combs, 54, pleaded not guilty Tuesday after an indictment accused him of using his “power and prestige” to induce female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, elaborately produced sexual performances dubbed “freak offs” that Combs arranged, participated in and often recorded. The events would sometimes last days, the indictment said.
The indictment alleges he coerced and abused women for years, with the help of a network of associates and employees, while using blackmail and violent acts including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings to keep victims from speaking out.
Combs has been in federal custody since his arrest Monday night at a Manhattan hotel.
Warning: Video contains distressing details | A New York judge denied bail to Sean (Diddy) Combs after the music mogul pleaded not guilty to multiple federal charges, including sex trafficking. An unsealed indictment claims he abused, threatened and coerced women for decades, raising questions about why it’s only going to court now.
Combs has history of alleged abuse: prosecutor
Arguing to keep him locked up, prosecutor Emily Johnson told U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter that the once-celebrated rapper has a long history of intimidating both his accusers and those who witnessed his alleged abuse. She cited text messages from women who said Combs forced them into the freak offs and then threatened to leak videos of them engaging in sex acts.
Johnson said Combs’ defence team was “minimizing and horrifically understating” his propensity for violence, taking issue with his lawyer’s portrayal of a 2016 assault at a Los Angeles hotel as a lover’s quarrel. Security video of the event showed Combs hitting his then-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, in a hotel hallway.
Johnson seized on a text message from a woman who said Combs dragged her down a hallway by her hair. According to Johnson, the woman told the rapper: “I’m not a rag doll, I’m someone’s child.”
Combs is a “danger to the community and poses a serious risk to the integrity” of his case, Johnson argued.
Federal Magistrate Robyn F. Tarnofsky initially ruled that Combs was too dangerous to be freed. But Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, submitted a letter to Carter on Wednesday asking again for bail under conditions that would allow him to leave the Metropolitan Detention Center, the lockup on the Brooklyn waterfront where he was taken after arraignment.
Lawyers and some judges have frequently complained that the jail, which has around 1,200 inmates, is overcrowded, violent and neglected.
Combs offered to pay millions in bail for home detention
Combs’ Florida home is on Star Island, a man-made dollop of land in Biscayne Bay, reachable only by a causeway or boat. It is among the most expensive places to live in the United States.
Combs’ request echoes that of a long line of wealthy defendants who have offered to pay multimillion-dollar bails in exchange for home detention in luxurious surroundings.
If he were to be granted bail, Combs would have to stay in that house while awaiting trial, his lawyers said. Visits would be restricted to family, property caretakers and friends who are not considered co-conspirators.
‘I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now,’ Sean (Diddy) Combs said in a video statement posted Sunday to Instagram and Facebook addressing 2016 security footage that showed him punching and kicking Cassie, an R&B singer who was his protégé and longtime girlfriend at the time.
“I am feeling confident. We’re going to go get Mr. Combs out of jail,” Agnifilo said on his way into court Wednesday. He said Combs is “doing great, he’s focused and he’s ready for his hearing.”
Many of the accusations in the indictment parallel allegations contained in a November lawsuit filed by Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura. The suit was settled the following day, but its allegations have followed Combs since.
The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Ventura did.
Without naming Ventura but clearly referring to her, Agnifilo argued at Tuesday’s arraignment that the entire criminal case is an outgrowth of one long-term, troubled-but-consensual relationship that faltered amid infidelity. The “Freak Offs,” he contended, were an expansion of that relationship, and not coercive.
Prosecutors portrayed the scope as larger. They said they had interviewed more than 50 victims and witnesses.
Narcotics, videos, firearms seized in March raids
Like many aging hip-hop figures, Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, had established a gentler public image.
The father of seven children was a respected international businessman, whose annual “White Party” in the Hamptons was once a must-have invitation for the jet-setting elite.
But prosecutors said Combs used the same companies, people and methods he used to build his business and cultural power to facilitate his crimes. They said they would prove it with financial and travel records, electronic communications and videos of the freak offs.
In March, authorities raided homes belonging to Combs in Los Angeles and Miami, seizing narcotics, videos and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, according to prosecutors. They said agents also seized firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers.
A conviction on every charge in the indictment would require a mandatory 15 years in prison with the possibility of a life sentence.
Support is available for anyone who has been abused or assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. The Canadian Women’s Foundation’s Signal For Help is a silent, one-handed gesture to use in a video call to indicate that you are at risk of violence at home. If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.