Sean “Diddy” Combs wants to testify in his criminal trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, his lawyer said.
“I don’t know if I can stop him from testifying. “He’s very eager to tell his story,” said the rap mogul’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, in an interview for a new TMZ documentary.
When contacted by CNN a representative for Combs declined to elaborate on Agnifilo’s comments or say whether Combs will, in fact, testify.
A source with knowledge of the current case said to CNN that the hearing phase has not yet begun, so it is too early to confirm witnesses or people who may be called to testify during the trial.
Prosecutors unsealed the three-count indictment against Combs on Sept. 17, saying the artist orchestrated “a criminal enterprise” through his business empire that engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping and decades of physical abuse against women, among others. other charges.
A hotel surveillance video first published by CNN in May, which showed Combs assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, was named in the indictment against him. Prosecutors allege the images show Combs’ pattern of physical abuse over decades.
When asked by TMZ about Combs’ video, Agnifilo said that if Combs testified, he would explain his actions in the video.
“I think he will tell every part of his story, including what you see in the video, so I think we will both explain,” Agnifilo said in the interview. “He has his story, and he has a story that I think only he can tell in the way he can tell it in real time.”
Prosecutors allege that Combs “bribed” a hotel employee “to ensure his silence” in 2016. (Ventura’s lawsuit, now settled in November 2023, alleged that he paid the hotel $50,000 to obtain the security footage of the aggression corridor). The government and several accusers have brought charges of bribery, payments to cover up alleged wrongdoing and records of alleged sexual assaults in 11 civil cases, which Combs has denied.
In charging Combs, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York alleged that Combs performed what he called “Freak Offs,” or elaborate sexual performances in which he drugged and forced victims to perform prolonged sexual acts with male sex workers. Around a thousand bottles of baby oil and personal lubricant were seized during searches as part of the investigation.
“I can’t imagine there are thousands. And I’m not really sure what baby oil has to do with anything,” Agnifilo said in an interview with TMZ. “One bottle of baby oil is enough. I don’t know why you need a thousand. I mean, he has a big house. Buy wholesale. I think they have Costcos everywhere you have a house. Have you ever sat in a Costco parking lot and seen what people bring when they leave?”
In an interview with CNN After Combs was charged last week, Agnifilio downplayed the number of victims he believes were involved in the criminal charges, after prosecutors said more than 50 witnesses or victims spoke to federal investigators.
“He’s just a victim,” he told host Kaitlan Collins. “That’s all there is to the prosecution.”
Combs is currently awaiting trial in New York’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center, a facility that has also hosted singer R. Kelly, “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli and socialite Ghislaine Maxwell. Combs is being held in the same housing unit as former cryptocurrency genius Sam Bankman-Fried and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, a source said. to CNN explaining that their shared facilities are reserved for high-profile inmates and isolated from the general public.
This content was originally published in Sean “Diddy” Combs wants to testify at his own trial, says lawyer on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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