Sean “Diddy” Combs is scheduled to make his first appearance before Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan federal court on Thursday afternoon, marking a significant development in the high-profile sex trafficking case against the hip-hop mogul.
Combs, 54, who has pleaded not guilty to charges including racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, will be brought from a Brooklyn jail for the hearing. The proceedings are expected to establish deadlines for legal submissions that will shape the parameters of the upcoming trial.
Defense attorneys are pushing for an April or May trial date, while prosecutors have not yet expressed a preference for the trial timeline. Judge Subramanian was assigned to the case after another judge recused himself due to past associations with lawyers involved.
The indictment against Combs, unsealed last month, alleges a pattern of coercion and abuse of women dating back to 2008. Prosecutors claim Combs used a network of associates to silence victims through various means, including blackmail and violent acts such as kidnapping, arson, and physical beatings.
Combs’ legal team has been unsuccessful in their attempts to secure bail for the Bad Boy Records founder since his September 16 arrest. Two judges have deemed Combs a danger to the community, with one rejecting a $50 million bail package that included home detention and electronic monitoring.
In their latest move, Combs’ lawyers have appealed the bail rulings to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. They argue that the proposed bail package “would plainly stop him from posing a danger to anyone or contacting any witnesses,” and urge the appeals court to reject what they call the lower court’s endorsement of “the government’s exaggerated rhetoric.”
