A movement for a mistrial within the Sean “Diddy” Combs intercourse trafficking trial has been denied by a federal decide.
Attorneys for the embattled hip hop mogul had argued that prosecutors knowingly launched false testimony by Bryana Bongolan – the witness who claimed last week that Combs dangled her from a 17-story balcony in 2016.
However in the beginning of Tuesday’s proceedings, Choose Arun Subramanian mentioned the alleged challenge didn’t rise to the extent of a trial-ending error: “This isn’t fodder for a mistrial. That is the adversarial course of at work,” Subramanian mentioned from the bench, according to ABC.
Combs is standing trial on racketeering and intercourse trafficking expenses over accusations that he ran a sprawling legal operation geared toward facilitating freak-offs — elaborate occasions which he allegedly compelled his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and different girls to have intercourse with male escorts whereas he watched and masturbated.
Prosecutors additionally say the star and his associates used violence, cash and blackmail to maintain victims silent and beneath his management. (Learn Billboard‘s full explainer of the case towards Diddy right here.) Combs had pleaded not responsible; if convicted on the entire expenses, he faces a possible sentence of life in jail.
With the case halfway through a trial anticipated to run eight weeks, Diddy’s protection group moved for a mistrial primarily based on Bongolan’s testimony concerning the balcony incident, one of many flashiest accusations within the case.
In a movement filed Saturday, the star’s legal professionals mentioned prosecutors had offered jurors with “demonstrably false” proof throughout her time on the stand. Bongolan testified that she took images of her accidents from the assault on September 26, 2016, however protection attorneys mentioned they’d resort receipts displaying Diddy was in New York from Sept. 24 to 29 of that 12 months.
“The federal government knew or ought to have recognized this testimony was perjured, and that Ms. Bongolan couldn’t presumably have been injured by Mr. Combs on a Los Angeles balcony within the early morning hours of September 26, and even the day earlier than that,” his legal professionals wrote within the movement, additionally claiming that Bongolan had dedicated perjury.
Prosecutors didn’t reply with a written submitting of their very own, however they argued in court docket final week that the assault might have occurred earlier than the September 24and that Bongolan merely documented it later. Introduced with the receipts and topic to withering cross examination, Bongolan stood by her story however admitted that she was not sure of the date.
Following Tuesday’s denial, the trial will proceed on with extra testimony from prosecution witnesses. The newest is “Jane,” a former girlfriend who testified final week and Monday that Diddy bodily, sexually and psychologically abused her. She is going through cross-examination throughout Tuesday’s proceedings.