Sean “Diddy” Combs has asked the judge who is overseeing his case to acquit him or give him a new trial – before he has even been sentenced.
In a 62-page memorandum, filed overnight on Wednesday, Combs’ defense argues that he was unfairly targeted by the federal government and that his conviction was “unconstitutional” and unprecedented.
Combs was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution earlier this month, but was acquitted on the more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.
During his trial, prosecutors accused Combs of leading a criminal enterprise made up of some of his closest employees, alleging they used threats, violence, forced labor, bribery and other crimes to force Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and another woman, “Jane,” to engage in drug-fueled sex acts with male escorts called “Freak Offs” or “hotel nights.” His lawyers argued the sex acts were consensual and merely preferences of a “swingers’” lifestyle, while trying to undermine the hip-hop mogul’s accusers by contending they were trying to gain a monetary benefit from Combs. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The new filing states that Combs is the only person in America to be convicted under the Mann Act under his circumstances, with his attorneys arguing that had he only been charged with the two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, his trial would have been entirely different with less evidence of violence presented to the jury.
