Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial set for May

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Sean "Diddy" Combs will stand trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges starting on May 5, a U.S. judge decided during a hearing on Thursday, and the jailed hip-hop mogul blew kisses to his family in the courtroom afterward.

During the hearing before U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan federal court, Combs' lawyer Marc Agnifilo also raised concerns about what he termed improper leaks by federal agents about the case. Prosecutor Emily Johnson called the claim baseless.

Combs, 54, pleaded not guilty on Sept. 17 to a three-count indictment charging him with using his business empire - including record label Bad Boy Entertainment - to transport women and male sex workers across state lines to take part in recorded sexual performances called "Freak Offs." 

Thursday's hearing marked a third court appearance for Combs since his September arrest. 

Wearing tan prison garb, Combs stood and blew kisses toward his family members seated in the courtroom's audience after the hearing ended. His mother and children attended the hearing, defense lawyer Anthony Ricco said in court. Combs was then led out a side door by members of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Johnson told the court the prosecution's case at the trial will last at least three weeks. Combs' defense case will last around one week, Agnifilo said. 

Combs has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his arrest. The Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday denied his request to be immediately released while he appeals another judge's decision to deny him bail. A three-judge 2nd Circuit panel will hear that appeal at a later date.

The rapper and producer faces a sentence of up to life in prison and a minimum of 15 years if convicted of the three counts he faces: racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. 

Prosecutors said Combs enticed women by giving them drugs such as ketamine and ecstasy, financial support or promises of career support or a romantic relationship. Combs then used the surreptitious recordings of the sex acts as "collateral" to ensure that the women would remain silent, and sometimes displayed weapons to intimidate abuse victims and witnesses, prosecutors said.

The indictment contained no allegation that Combs himself directly engaged in unwanted sexual contact with women, though he was accused of physically assaulting them. Agnifilo has called the sexual activity described by prosecutors consensual. 

In a court filing on Wednesday night, Agnifilo asked Subramanian to impose a "gag order" prohibiting prosecutors and federal agents from disclosing evidence to the media. Agnifilo cited what he called unlawful leaks that included a videotape showing Combs striking and dragging a woman in 2016.

At the hearing, Johnson called the defense request an attempt to "exclude a damning piece of evidence." She said prosecutors would have no problem affirming their obligations not to disclose confidential evidence to the press, but said the defense should be bound by that as well. 

Johnson also raised concerns about Agnifilo's statement in a September interview with entertainment news outlet TMZ calling the case a "takedown of a successful Black man." She said the comment amounted to an accusation that the government was "engaging in a racist prosecution." 

"Statements of this sort seriously risk a fair trial in this case," Johnson said.

Subramanian asked Agnifilo to propose an order that would govern public statements by both sides.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Will Dunham)