Marc Agnifilo, the lawyer representing Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, delivered a bullish speech yesterday after his client was found guilty of “transportation to engage in prostitution” but acquitted on more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, calling the jury’s decision at the end of a seven week trial “a victory of all victories”.
However, Arun Subramanian, the judge overseeing the case, denied a request for bail, with Combs set to remain in prison until he is sentenced in October.
Speaking outside the courthouse, Agnifilo said that Combs was “absolutely innocent” of the charges that he ran a racketeering enterprise in order to commit and cover up criminal acts, and that he trafficked women to take part in his infamous freak-offs.
And that’s not just his opinion, the attorney added, “that is the verdict of our jury”. The acquittal of Combs on the claims of racketeering and sex trafficking was, he said, “a victory of all victories for Sean Combs and our legal team”.
As for the guilty verdicts on the “transportation to engage in prostitution” charges, Agnifilo suggested that his client would appeal that part of the ruling. He added, “We are not nearly done fighting - we are just getting started”. Yesterday’s judgement “was a major, major step in the right direction”, but, he insisted, “we fight on and we’re gonna win”.
Although yesterday’s judgement was in many ways a victory for Combs, given the prosecution failed to secure convictions on the more serious crimes, he still faces up to 20 years in prison.
Combs, of course, has been in jail ever since he was arrested last year, having been previously refused bail on multiple occasions. Following yesterday’s ruling, and with Combs acquitted on the more serious charges, Agnifilo again called for his client to be released on bail pending October's sentencing.
However, judge Subramanian concluded that it would be “impossible” to let Combs out of prison at this point, given Agnifilo himself had admitted just last week that there was a “pattern of violence” attached to his client.
A key part of the defence’s strategy during the trial was to admit that Combs was guilty of physical assault - the evidence of that being overwhelming - but to insist that that didn't mean he ran a racketeering enterprise to facilitate and cover up his violent conduct.
Noting how Agnifilo had told the court “we own the domestic violence - we own it”, Subramanian said “you full-throatedly told the jury that there was violence here”.
Unable to deny that fact, Agnifilo tried instead to claim that Combs has been “working on himself” since his arrest, that he was seeking to change his ways, and therefore “I think we should trust him”. But Subramanian was not persuaded, meaning Combs will stay behind bars until at least October.