Lawyers for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs accused prosecutors on Monday of engaging in “outrageous government conduct” by using materials seized from his jail cell to try to keep him incarcerated before a May trial.
They said information gathered in a raid on Combs’ cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn were cited in papers the government filed in Manhattan federal court on Friday in a bid to keep the music mogul locked up before his May 5 trial.
“This is a matter of grave concern that, most respectfully, must be addressed immediately,” the lawyers told Judge Arun Subramanian, who already has scheduled a bail hearing for Friday for Combs. They requested an “immediate hearing” so prosecutors can explained who authorized the search of Combs’ cell, where personal effects and paperwork were seized.
Later Monday, prosecutors responded to the claims with a letter to the judge saying that the inspection of Combs’ cell was part of a jail-wide, safety-related sweep unrelated to Combs or his prosecution.
They said the search was planned before Combs was arrested and was properly carried out with an investigator who entered Combs’ cell and decided to not examine a manila envelop labeled “legal” that was in the cell.
They added that any potentially privileged materials were viewed first by a “filter team” of government lawyers not working on the case. The team was tasked with weeding out any confidential communications protected by attorney-client privilege so that trial prosecutors couldn’t see them.
Combs, 55, has been held since his September arrest on charges that he coerced and abused women for years with the aid of a network of associates and employees. An indictment accuses him of silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is currently seeking to be freed to house arrest through a $50 million bail package.
On Friday, prosecutors said Combs has been trying to dodge scrutiny of his jailhouse communications while orchestrating social media campaigns aimed at tainting the jury pool and trying to publicly leak materials he views are helpful to his case. They said he also has contacted witnesses through third parties.
In their letter Monday, lawyers for Combs noted that prosecutors in their bail arguments last week acknowledged that they possess “possibly privileged materials, such as the notes recovered from the defendant’s cell.”
Combs’ lawyers called it “outrageous government conduct amounting to a substantive due process violation.”
They accused prosecutors of viewing their client’s “privileged notes to his lawyers concerning defense witnesses and defense strategies.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.