NEED TO KNOW
- Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyers have made a second request for a mistrial in a June 7 letter to Judge Arun Subramanian
- His legal defense team is claiming that the prosecution presented “materially false” testimony to the court
- Defense attorneys previously requested a mistrial two weeks ago in May, but Judge Subramanian denied the motion
Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs have moved for a mistrial in his sex trafficking case — their second such request within two weeks.
The 55-year-old music mogul’s defense team made the latest request after claiming “prosecutorial misconduct” in a June 7 letter to Judge Arun Subramanian.
The defense claimed in the letter, obtained by PEOPLE, 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.”
“Accordingly, to avoid an unfair conviction in this case the Court should grant a mistrial,” the defense team continued.
Combs’ legal team then claimed that testimony from Ventura, 38 — in which she stated that she saw Combs dangle Bongolan from a balcony — could not have been true, as text records allegedly show that Ventura learned of the alleged incident after the fact.
“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 defense team continued, while also stating that Ventura’s account of the incident is “demonstrably false.”
The defense team also claimed that the prosecution then presented photos of the injuries sustained by Bongolan as a result of the balcony incident that were allegedly taken on Sept. 26, 2016, in Los Angeles.
The defense stated that the prosecution knew “or should have known that this testimony was perjured,” as “the government has long known” that Combs was in New York City between Sept. 24 to Sept. 29 of that year.
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The defense team further claimed that the prosecution “repeatedly attempted to disrupt” the defense’s line of questioning when the defense attempted to “expose the perjury upon cross-examination.”
“All of this was highly improper and exacerbated the harm caused by […] the perjured testimony,” Combs’ legal team stated, before adding that “the balcony incident is just one example of prosecutorial misconduct during this trial.”
The first move for a mistrial from Combs’ legal team occurred at the end of May, after prosecutors asked Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator Lance Jimenez if fingerprint evidence related to the bombing of Kid Cudi’s car had been destroyed. Prosecutors also asked about who might have authorized the destruction.
Combs’ lawyers argued that the line of questioning could potentially imply the idea that Combs could buy his way out of trouble.
“They were trying to plant this idea to the these jurors that Mr. Combs authorized this,” defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro said at the time.
Judge Subramanian denied the defense’s first motion, ruling that the questions were not prejudicial.
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