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The
latest version of the indictment against Combs, 55, added two
new charges this month but he still hadn't entered a plea,
prosecutors said. That, plus possible delays from the routine
process for sharing evidence with both sides, called discovery,
made prosecutors think he might be stalling for time, Assistant
U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik said.
Combs has been locked up without bail since his September
arrest. He entered a not guilty plea again at Monday's hearing,
but otherwise remained impassive in the courtroom.
Judge Arun Subramanian told Combs' lawyers they have until
Wednesday to request a pause in the trial to give time for
discovery.
“We are a freight train moving toward trial,” he said.
Marc Agnifilo, representing Combs, said the defense might ask
for a “very short” two-week adjournment over discovery issues,
including the government's failure to ask a key witness to turn
over 200,000 of her emails rather than just letting her
highlight the ones she thinks are important.
The latest version of the indictment, returned on April 4, added
two new charges and accused Combs of using force, fraud or
coercion to compel a woman to engage in commercial sex acts from
at least 2021 to 2024.
It also alleges that Combs was involved in transporting the
woman — identified only as “Victim-2” — and other people,
including commercial sex workers, to engage in prostitution
during the same period.
The new charges bolstered an indictment already charging him
with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.
Federal prosecutors said the racketeering conspiracy charge
involves allegations that Combs sex-trafficked three victims and
forced a fourth, one of his employees, into sexual activity with
him.
His lawyers responded to the latest version of the indictment by
saying it added no new allegations or accusers and pertained
only to former long-term girlfriends involved in consensual
relationships.
Prosecutors say Combs coerced and abused women for years as he
used his “power and prestige” as a music star to enlist a
network of associates and employees to help him while he
silenced victims through blackmail and violence, including
kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
They say the Bad Boy Records founder induced female victims into
drugged-up, elaborately produced sexual performances with male
sex workers in events dubbed “Freak Offs.”
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