Prosecutors have accused Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of breaking prison rules to contact potential witnesses in the criminal case against him, which is why - they argue - the musician’s latest bid for bail should be rejected.
Combs, meanwhile, has claimed that prosecutors are in possession of confidential attorney-client documents which will prevent him from receiving a fair trial. And the lawyer leading on multiple civil lawsuits against Combs has been accused of extortion. It’s a busy day for Diddy legal news.
Combs has been in prison ever since he was charged with sex-trafficking and racketeering back in September. Earlier this month his lawyers had another go at getting their client bail, proposing a $50 million bond and a plethora of restrictions that they said Combs would adhere to.
However, the prosecution insists that previous concerns that Combs, if out of jail, will seek to influence witnesses remain valid, with his alleged conduct behind bars only adding to those concerns.
In their response to Combs’ latest bail proposal, prosecutors claim that the musician has been running a “relentless” scheme to “contact potential witnesses, including victims of his abuse who could provide powerful testimony against him”.
That scheme has involved using the phone accounts of at least eight other inmates at the prison where Combs is currently being held, as well as getting his employees and family members to reach out to witnesses on his behalf. This scheme would be escalated if Combs was on bail, prosecutors insist.
It was the response to Combs’ bail bid that prompted his lawyers to raise concerns that prosecutors have accessed confidential documents which are protected by the principle of attorney-client privilege, and therefore should not be available to the prosecution. That includes photographs of hand written notes that were found in Combs’ prison cell.
The prosecution cites those notes to back up its claim that Combs has been seeking to influence witnesses. These notes, claim Combs’ lawyers, are “absolutely privileged” and the fact the prosecution got access to them is “a matter of grave concern”.
To that end they want an urgent court hearing to ascertain what documents prosecutors have, how they got them, who authorised the photographing of documents in Combs’ cell, and who decided to hand those photographs to the prosecution.
Prosecutors quickly responded to that letter yesterday, insisting no such hearing is required. They say that photographs of Combs’ notebooks were taken during a routine sweep of the prison where the musician is being held, which was not specifically linked to his case.
Those photos, they add, were initially sent to a ‘filter team’ to review whether or not they were subject to attorney-client privilege. That filter team then passed on certain redacted photos, which is what the prosecution was referring to in its recent filing.
So, the back and forth continues between the prosecution and the Combs defence team.
Meanwhile, in LA, a lawsuit has been filed against Tony Buzbee, the lawyer leading on multiple civil lawsuits accusing Combs of sexual assault. It was Buzbee who opened up a phone line for anyone with allegations against Combs, who said that he had at least 120 clients planning to sue the musician, and who promised to also “expose the enablers” who facilitated Combs’ alleged misconduct.
The new lawsuit has been filed by an unnamed “celebrity and public figure” who accuses Buzbee of going after “anyone with any ties to Combs”, making “vile” allegations against those people in connection to their presence at Combs-hosted parties, and then hoping to pressure said people into financial settlements.
“With Combs behind bars and payment unlikely to be forthcoming any time soon”, the lawsuit says, Buzbee and his law firm “devised a scheme to obtain payments through the use of coercive threats from anyone with any ties to Combs, no matter how remote”, who could be expected to “pay an exorbitant sum” rather than be publicly linked to Combs’ alleged crimes.
The unnamed accuser says a legal letter from Buzbee’s firm accused him of raping both male and female minors who had been drugged at parties hosted by Combs. “These ‘vile’ allegations are entirely false”, he adds. And yet he is now expected to agree to a financial settlement with Buzbee and his clients to avoid those allegations being made public, the lawsuit claims, adding, “this is textbook extortion”.
Responding, Buzbee says the lawsuit is “not only without legal merit” but also “laughable”. The letter referred to in the lawsuit, he adds, was a “standard request for confidential mediation” and contained no threats or monetary demand.
The lawsuit itself, he goes on, “is an aggressive attempt to intimidate or silence me and ultimately my clients. That effort is a gross miscalculation. I am a US Marine. I won't be silenced or intimidated. Neither will my clients”.