Sean 'Diddy' Combs appeals judge's denial of his release from jail on $50 million bond
Sean "Diddy" Combs is taking his bid to be released from jail to a higher court.
Combs' legal team on Monday submitted a notice of appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. According to court filings obtained by USA TODAY, the Bad Boy Records mogul is seeking an appeals court judgment that would overturn Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr.'s Sept. 18 decision to deny his request to be released from jail on conditions that include a $50 million bond.
USA TODAY has reached out to Combs' representative for comment.
Combs, who was arrested on Sept. 16 and arraigned on sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution charges the following day, has been incarcerated in the Special Housing Unit at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center. He's maintained his innocence amid an avalanche of civil lawsuits over the past year and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Why judges refused to let Diddy post bail
Before this latest appeal, Combs lost two bids to be released on bail. The first judge, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky, sided with U.S. attorneys' argument that Combs posed a risk if he were to be released for home detention.
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"I don't believe that counsel has the ability to control you, given the very significant concerns I have, particularly because of substance abuse and what seem like anger issues," Tarnofsky told Combs and his counsel, according to a court transcript reviewed by USA TODAY.
"The danger, I think, is quite serious," she added of Combs' release, deciding that the bond package his team offered would not "assure his return to court or the safety of the community, or a lack of witness tampering."
In a letter to Judge Carter on Sept. 18, Combs' attorneys requested for Combs to be released from custody on a $50 million bond secured by the equity in his and his mother's houses in Florida on the grounds that he had made himself available to be detained by the government. The letter also noted Combs, his daughters and his mother had surrendered their passports to his legal counsel.
After Carter upheld Tarnofsky's Sept. 17 ruling against Combs, Marc Agnifilo, one of Combs' lawyers, vowed to appeal the decision.
"I told Mr. Combs I'm going to try and get his case to trial as quickly as possible," he said outside the courthouse on Sept. 18. "I'm going to try to minimize the amount of time he spends in very very difficult and I believe inhumane housing conditions in the Special Housing Unit of the Metropolitan Detention Facility."
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Why was Diddy arrested?
The morning after his Sept. 16 arrest, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed a 14-page federal grand jury indictment that revealed an extensive and ongoing federal investigation into the hip-hop icon. Investigators say the 54-year-old elaborately schemed to use his finances and status in the entertainment industry to "fulfill his sexual desires" in a "recurrent and widely known" pattern of abuse.
In a Sept. 17 letter to the judge arguing for Combs to be jailed until he is brought to trial, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams claimed his office has "the testimony of dozens of witnesses and victims to his serial abuse, and evidence from dozens of his own electronic devices and those of his co-conspirators."
Investigators have taken in more than 90 cellphones, laptops, cloud storage accounts as well as at least 30 storage devices. They issued more than 300 grand jury subpoenas to obtain this evidence from communications providers, tech and social media companies, financial institutions and Combs' companies.
Prosecutors allegedly have "dozens" of videos depicting Combs' so-called "freak offs" – sometimes dayslong sex performances between sex workers and people he allegedly coerced into participating through narcotics and intimidation – that corroborate witness testimony.
Combs' indictment states Homeland Security Investigations agents procured drugs and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant that were allegedly used in Combs' "freak offs" in the March 25 raids of Combs' homes. Multiple AR-15 rifles and large-capacity magazines were also allegedly discovered.
In a TMZ documentary titled "The Downfall of Diddy: The Indictment," Agnifilo said Combs plans to testify in his trial, adding, "I don't know that I could keep him off the stand."
He also cast doubt on the number of baby oil bottles allegedly seized by agents during their raids on Combs' Los Angeles and Miami homes in March and claimed Combs' "freak-offs" were simply "threesomes."
As for the possibility of Combs accepting a plea deal – should he be offered one by U.S. attorneys – Agnifilo said, "I don't see it happening."
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.