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Sean “Diddy” Combs accused of “improperly” influencing sex-trafficking case
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Sean “Diddy” Combs accused of “improperly” influencing sex-trafficking case

Sean “Diddy” Combs attempted to contact potential witnesses and sway public opinion in an attempt to sway potential jurors for his upcoming sex-trafficking trial, prosecutors have alleged in a court filing urging a judge to dismiss them last bail application.

The government allegations were made late Friday local time in a Manhattan federal court filing opposing the third and final $50 million (AU$77 million) bail proposal. A bail hearing is scheduled for next week.

In the motion, they cited changed circumstances, including new evidence, which they said made it reasonable to release Mr. Combs so he could better prepare for his May 5 trial.

But prosecutors said defense attorneys crafted their latest bail proposal using some evidence prosecutors turned over and that the new material was already known to defense attorneys when they filed earlier bail applications.

In their submission to a judge, prosecutors said Mr. Combs’ behavior in prison showed he should remain locked up.

The music mogul has pleaded not guilty to charges that he coerced and abused women for years with the help of a network of associates and employees, while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.

Two judges concluded that he is a danger to the community and a flight risk.

Diddy asked the family to call the victims, prosecutors say

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Prosecutors wrote that a review of Mr. Combs’ recorded jail calls showed that he asked family members to reach out to victims and potential witnesses and urged them to create “narratives” to sway the jury.

They said Mr. Combs began breaking the rules almost as soon as he was detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after his arrest in September.

These include encouraging marketing strategies to influence public opinion.

Prosecutors said Mr. Combs enlisted family members to plan and run a social media campaign around his birthday “with the intention of influencing the potential jury in this criminal proceeding.”

He encouraged his children to post a video on their social media accounts showing them gathered to celebrate his birthday, they said.

He later monitored reviews, including public involvement, from jail and “explicitly discussed with his family how to ensure that the video had the desired effect on potential jurors in this case,” they said.

Prosecutors also alleged that Mr. Combs, during other calls, made clear his intention to anonymously release information he believed would help his defense against the charges.

“Defendant’s efforts to obstruct the integrity of this proceeding also include relentless efforts to contact potential witnesses, including victims of his abuse, who could provide powerful testimony against him,” they wrote.

“The defendant has repeatedly demonstrated — even while in custody — that he will flagrantly and repeatedly break the rules to improperly affect the outcome of his case. In other words, the defendant has shown that he cannot be trusted to follow the rules or conditions.”

They argued that it could be inferred from his behavior that Mr. Combs wanted to blackmail victims and witnesses into silence or into giving evidence useful to his defense.

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