Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and his legal representation have made a bold call for a mistrial, following the contentious events of the trial’s third week.
With charges against the 55 year old music icon including racketeering and sex trafficking by force, to which he has pleaded not guilty in New York, his defence has now doubled down with a fresh plea to scrap the case, accusing the prosecution of “prosecutorial misconduct”.
A dispatch sent to Judge Arun Subramanian on Saturday, June 7 paints a grim picture, as observed by PEOPLE: the defence charges that “the government has presented testimony that it knew or should have known was materially false related to its allegation that Mr. Combs dangled Bryana Bongolan from the balcony of Cassie Ventura’s apartment in September 2016.”
The missive passionately contends: “Accordingly, to avoid an unfair conviction in this case the Court should grant a mistrial.”
Allegations also emerge over the credibility of ex-girlfriend Cassie’s condemnation, with Diddy’s team contesting her claim of witnessing him endanger Bryana on a balcony as “demonstrably false”. They maintain her story crumbles due to text evidence suggesting her knowledge of the event only came later, reports the Mirror.
Furthermore, the letter argues, the prosecution has exploited the alleged incident to skew perception of Combs, painting him “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.”
The defence team also contended that the prosecution presented photographs of Bryana’s purported injuries from the incident, allegedly taken on 26 September 2016 in Los Angeles, despite the fact that “the government has long known” Combs was in New York City from 24-29 September that year.
They further alleged that the prosecution “repeatedly attempted to disrupt” their line of questioning when they sought to “expose the perjury upon cross-examination.
“All of this was highly improper and exacerbated the harm caused by […] the perjured testimony,” the letter continued. “The balcony incident is just one example of prosecutorial misconduct during this trial.”
In late May, Combs’ legal representatives called for a mistrial after prosecutors questioned Lance Jiminez, an arson investigator from the Los Angeles Fire Department, about whether fingerprint evidence linked to the bombing of Kid Cudi’s car had been destroyed and who could have authorised such a decision.
At that point, the rapper’s lawyers argued that this line of questioning could potentially suggest that their client was capable of bribing his way out of trouble. However, the judge dismissed this appeal, stating that the questions were not prejudicial to the case.
The trial is scheduled to resume on Monday. Combs’ former partner, who testified under a pseudonym, will continue her testimony.
The trial is anticipated to last six weeks.