Lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs on Wednesday accused the government of waging a campaign to leak evidence — including the 2016 video that shows him assaulting singer Cassie, his former girlfriend — and damaging the hip-hop mogul’s right to a fair trial.
Combs’ lead attorneys said in a court filing that they might seek to have the video, which shows Combs kicking and striking Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura in an L.A. hotel hallway, excluded from his trial.
Combs faces charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation for prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and denies the charges.
Attorneys Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos asked the court to hold a hearing to investigate what they characterized as unlawful leaks of grand jury evidence against Combs. They cited a federal rule of criminal procedure prohibiting prosecutors or government agents from disclosing matters that occur before a grand jury.
Combs’ lawyers allege that the government, through investigators with the Department of Homeland Security, “engaged in a seven-month campaign … strategically leaking confidential grand jury material and information, including the 2016 Intercontinental videotape, in order to prejudice the public and potential jurors against Mr. Combs.”
The video, obtained and published by CNN in March, shows Combs chasing Cassie down a hall of the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles, kicking her, striking her and throwing a vase at her before dragging her back to the door of a room. The footage, which quickly went viral, confirmed at least some of the physical abuse allegations against the singer detailed in a lawsuit filed in November.
Combs’ lawyers acknowledged in the court filing that prosecutors, after being informed of the attorneys’ intention to file the leak allegations, responded that the Department of Homeland Security “did not have possession of the videotape prior to CNN’s” making it public and that the CNN video “was not obtained through grand jury process.” Federal officials have yet to comment on the filing.
In addition to an evidentiary hearing to examine the alleged government misconduct, Combs’ lawyers requested “emails, documents and records in the possession of the government (including DHS) related to these leaks.”
To prevent further leaks, they asked for “a gag order prohibiting government personnel from disclosing any evidence or investigative material related to this case to any member of the media.”
They also want the “suppression of any evidence leaked by government employees” — a move that could mean jurors would not see or consider the Cassie beating video, which shortly after its release led to an apology by Combs for his behavior.
The recording, dated March 5, 2016, shows Ventura with a hoodie and a duffel bag as she walks toward an elevator in a hotel hallway. Combs can be seen running down the hallway, shirtless and holding a towel around his waist.
Security video recorded from another angle shows him grabbing Ventura’s head and throwing her on the ground, where he kicks her multiple times. He can also be seen picking up her bags and trying to drag her away from the elevators.
Combs’ lawyers also questioned the highly publicized raid in March of his Miami and Los Angeles homes by heavily armed Homeland Security Investigations agents. In the court filing, Agnifilo and Geragos allege that the “agents engaged in a particularly brutal and public search of Mr. Combs’ homes, during which they handcuffed Mr. Combs’ innocent sons and then marched them before a news helicopter and the press.” They wrote that it was part of an “effort to convey that they had overwhelming evidence against Mr. Combs.”
The raid and the leak of the recording to CNN were part of a “long and documented history of leaks and false statements made with one purpose: to savage Mr. Combs’s reputation prior to trial.”
Combs remained behind bars Wednesday as his lawyers made a third bid for him to be released on $50 million pending a trial. Combs plans to request a trial date in April or May, his lawyers said.
