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Diddy court hearing to focus on evidence, discovery

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This article mentions sexual assault. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673.

(NewsNation) —  Music producer and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is facing sex trafficking and racketeering charges, will be back in court Wednesday for a pretrial hearing.

The hearing is expected to focus on a number of issues, including evidence presented and discovery. Prosecutors say they’re on track to hand over all evidence by Dec. 31, but there’s still more material coming in — like data from electronic devices and subpoenaed records.

Defense attorneys for Combs, meanwhile, are accusing federal law enforcement of sharing sensitive details with the media. Earlier this week, the judge denied the defense’s request for a full hearing but made it clear there will be consequences if proof of these leaks surfaces.

Wednesday’s hearing could also address pending motions including whether the names of the victims will be made public.

Combs is being held in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York after being denied bail three times. His trial is set for May 5, 2025.

Diddy’s charges

In the grand jury indictment laid out against Combs, he is accused of using his music empire to engage in sex trafficking, and of having a pattern of abusing women.

Combs, the indictment alleges, often lured victims by promising a romantic relationship. He would then, according to the indictment, use threats, intimidation and abuse to get them to engage in sexual activities.

Along with the criminal charges, Combs faces a mounting list of civil lawsuits. Singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who had previously been in a relationship with Combs, filed a lawsuit in New York federal court alleging sex trafficking, human trafficking, sexual battery, sexual assault and gender-motivated violence.

Hotel surveillance video from 2016 obtained by CNN shows Combs violently attacking, kicking and shoving Ventura at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles.

While she and Combs settled the lawsuit, several more people came forward as well.  Attorney Tony Buzbee in October announced he is representing 120 people who plan on filing lawsuits against Combs.

Diddy, Jay-Z both named in lawsuit

Wednesday’s hearing is the first since new allegations involving both Combs and rap mogul Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, came out in an amended complaint.

A woman identified as “Jane Doe” says Combs and Carter assaulted her at an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty. Although the suit initially only named Combs, the amended court document identified Jay-Z as the person in it called “Celebrity A.”

Doe said in the lawsuit that she was invited to the party by a limousine driver after the VMA awards in September 200. At that time, she was 13 years old. Once at the party, the lawsuit says, the girl was given a drink that made her feel “woozy.” She decided she needed to lay down, so she found a room that contained only a large bed, and no furniture of any kind. After that, Combs and Carter came into the room with “Celebrity B,” a woman who watched while the assault took place, according to the suit.

Although the girl expressed distress after, the lawsuit said, she was ignored at the party. She went to a gas station and called her dad.

In response, Carter released a statement claiming Buzbee, who is the lawyer behind “Jane Doe’s” suit, tried to blackmail him.

“Only your network of conspiracy theorists, fake physics, will believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that, if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable,” Carter said.

Buzbee said that his client never demanded a penny from Carter.

“Since I sent the letter on her behalf, Mr. Carter has not only sued me, but he has tried to bully and harass me and this plaintiff. His conduct has had the opposite impact. She is emboldened,” Buzbee posted on X. “I’m very proud of her resolve.”

Doe, in a recent interview with NBC News, acknowledged some inconsistencies in her account. While she admitted that she “made some mistakes” in her recollections of that night, she said she stands by the allegations as a whole.

NewsNation’s Safia Samee Ali and Anna Kutz contributed to this article.

U.S.

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