Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing continued legal trouble in his highly publicized sex trafficking case. The 54-year-old music mogul has maintained a plea of not guilty to the charges and has been held in custody as multiple attempts at bail get denied.
Combs was brought before U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramanian in New York City, in a momentous milestone in the case. During the hearing, the judge pressed for dates from the prosecution and defense lawyers to file the arguments that have framed the probable outline of the potential trial. Combs’ attorneys want an April or May trial date, but the prosecution hasn’t indicated how quickly it wants to go to trial.
The case has already had its fair share of legal wrangling. Combs, who pleaded not guilty to the indictment, has faced an uphill climb for bail since his arrest on September 16. His attempts have been denied-so far-twice in this case, with two judges in separate decisions deeming him a danger to the community. A $50 million bail package that would have allowed home detention with electronic monitoring was also refused by the court on grounds that Combs could take advantage of the situation to tamper with witnesses and obstruct the continuing investigation.
Not satisfied with the rulings, Combs’s lawyers filed an appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday and requested that the judges vacate the earlier decisions on bail. The lawyers insisted that this bail package would absolutely ensure that Combs does not present any danger to the public or witnesses and also faulted the lower-court judge for stamping his seal of approval on the prosecution’s inflated arguments.
Yet, if the case is to proceed, it suggests that enormous stakes weigh on both Combs and his accusers, with charges of up to a decade length and grave abuse with manipulative behavior. The legal process in this case will be followed by many with close scrutiny. Indeed, further dates with the court will be crucial in deciding the way this highly staked trial will go down with the fate of one of music’s biggest names hanging right in the middle.
