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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs seeks bail citing new evidence – NBC New York
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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs seeks bail citing new evidence – NBC New York

Sean “Diddy” Combs filed a new bail request on Friday, saying changed circumstances along with new evidence mean the hip-hop mogul should be allowed to prepare for a May trial from outside prison.

Combs’ lawyers filed the request in Manhattan federal court; His previous requests for bail there have been rejected by two judges since his arrest in September on racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges.

He has pleaded not guilty to accusations that he coerced and harassed women for years through a network of co-workers and employees, as well as silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.

He is awaiting a May 5 hearing at a federal detention facility in Brooklyn.

In new court filings, Combs’ lawyers say they are proposing a “much more robust” bail package that would subject the artist to tight 24-hour security surveillance and place near-total restrictions on his ability to communicate with anyone except his lawyers. However, the money they added to the package remains at $50 million, as they suggested before.

They also cite new evidence that they say “makes clear that the government’s case is weak.” The lawyers said that evidence refutes the government’s claim that a March 2016 video showing Combs physically assaulting his then-girlfriend occurred during a forced “freaking out,” a sexually motivated event described in the indictment against Combs.

They wrote that this encounter was “a few-minute glimpse into the complex but decade-long consensual relationship” between Combs and his then-girlfriend.

Lawyers argued that Combs’ prison conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn violated his constitutional rights to participate in his defense.

A spokesman for prosecutors declined to comment.

Sean “Diddy” Combs speaks to his family from prison on his 55th birthday.