Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ legal team has requested a mistrial over “prosecutorial misconduct” after the third week of his trial in New York on charges including sex trafficking
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ legal team are pushing for a mistrial due to “prosecutorial misconduct” after the third week of his New York trial.
The 55 year old music mogul is facing charges including racketeering and sex trafficking by force, to which he has pleaded not guilty. His defence squad is now launching their second attempt to get the trial tossed out, claiming the prosecution has presented false testimony.
In a letter sent to Judge Arun Subramanian on Saturday, June 7, Diddy’s defence allege that the government knowingly allowed false testimony about an incident where Mr. Combs supposedly threatened Bryana Bongolan at Cassie Ventura’s flat back in September 2016.
According to PEOPLE magazine, the letter states: “Accordingly, to avoid an unfair conviction in this case the Court should grant a mistrial.”
Diddy’s legal team are also challenging the credibility of Cassie’s testimoney, who claimed she witnessed him hanging Bryana off a balcony. They are using text messages to argue that her account isn’t legitimate as they say the texts prove she only found out after the fact.
The defence’s letter states: “The incident, as alleged, is disturbing and powerful evidence, and the government has used it to depict Mr. Combs in an extremely negative light, as an angry and dangerous man who terrified Ms. Ventura and her friends.”
Sean Combs’ defence squad also claim that pictures of supposed injuries to Bryana, Diddy’s ex-partner, claiming they were touted as being snapped in Los Angeles on September 26, 2016, even though Diddy was apparently in New York City from September 24-29 that year.
The defence is also allege the prosecution’s been interfering with their cross-examination efforts to expose perjury.
In a fiery letter, they stated: “All of this was highly improper and exacerbated the harm caused by […] the perjured testimony,” and they didn’t stop there, adding “The balcony incident is just one example of prosecutorial misconduct during this trial.”
Back in May, Diddy’s legal team called for a mistrial when prosecutors grilled Lance Jiminez, an arson investigator from the Los Angeles Fire Department, over whether fingerprint evidence linked to the bombing of Kid Cudi’s motor had been destroyed.
Combs’ defence believe this line of questioning could imply that their client was capable of bribing his way out of trouble. But the beak threw out their plea, saying the probing wasn’t skewing the case.
The courtroom is due to resume again on Monday, with Diddy’s ex set to continue her testimony.
Keep up-to-date with your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day by following us on Facebook at Daily Star.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
