Diddy requests overturn of conviction or new trial after 'discriminatory' use of law
Combs' legal team filed a motion late Wednesday, July 30, asking the court to either overturn his conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution or grant him a new trial, according to legal documents obtained by USA TODAY.
The request comes days after the embroiled music mogul's team again asked Judge Arun Subramanian to release Combs on a $50 million bond and allow him to live in his Miami mansion – instead of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York – as he awaits sentencing in October.
Combs' legal team once again argues that use of the Mann Act – officially known as the White-Slave Traffic Act, which makes it illegal to transport people across state or international lines for the purpose of prostitution – "in these circumstances is unprecedented."
"Mr. Combs, at most, paid to engage in voyeurism as part of a 'swingers' lifestyle. That does not constitute 'prostitution' under a properly limited definition of the statutory term," Combs' team writes.
On July 2, jurors found Combs not guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking ex-girlfriends Casandra "Cassie" Ventura Fine and a woman known as "Jane" in his sweeping, nearly two-month trial. The jury convicted the Bad Boy Records founder on charges of transportation to engage in prostitution, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, or 10 years on each count. Prosecutors, though, have signaled that Combs himself may face a lesser time due to federal sentencing guidelines.
The motion continues: "The proof at trial showed that he typically hired the services of male escorts or dancers advertised openly through lawful businesses, that the men were paid for their time, and that they enjoyed the activities and had friendships with Ms. Ventura and Jane and were not merely traveling to have sex for money."
Trump 'should not pardon' Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Megyn Kelly says
If Combs' motion is denied, his legal team will no doubt be awaiting a decision from the White House, after President Donald Trump weighed in on the possibility of pardoning Combs pre-verdict on May 30 in the Oval Office.
"Nobody's asked" about a pardon, the president said at the time. "But I know people are thinking about it. I know they're thinking about it. I think some people have been very close to asking." Trump added, "I haven't spoken to him in years. He really liked me a lot."
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