NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused prosecutors on Monday of engaging in “outrageous government conduct” by using materials seized from his jail cell to try to keep him incarcerated before a May trial.
They said information gathered in a raid on Combs' cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn were cited in papers the government filed in Manhattan federal court on Friday in a bid to keep the music mogul locked up before his May 5 trial.
“This is a matter of grave concern that, most respectfully, must be addressed immediately,” the lawyers told Judge Arun Subramanian, who already has scheduled a bail hearing for Friday for Combs. They requested an “immediate hearing” so prosecutors can explained who authorized the search of Combs' cell, where personal effects and paperwork were seized.
Combs, 55, has been held since his September arrest on charges that he coerced and abused women and minors for years with the aid of a network of associates and employees. An indictment accuses him of silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is currently seeking to be freed to house arrest through a $50 million bail package.
On Friday, prosecutors said Combs has been trying to dodge scrutiny of his jailhouse communications while orchestrating social media campaigns aimed at tainting the jury pool and trying to publicly leak materials he views are helpful to his case. They said he also has contacted witnesses through third parties.
In their letter Monday, lawyers for Combs noted that prosecutors in their bail arguments last week acknowledged that they possess “possibly privileged materials, such as the notes recovered from the defendant's cell.”
Combs' lawyers called it “outrageous government conduct amounting to a substantive due process violation.”
They accused prosecutors of viewing their client's “privileged notes to his lawyers concerning defense witnesses and defense strategies.”
A spokesperson for prosecutors declined comment.
Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press