Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - P. Diddy Begs for Bail Again, Takes Fight to Higher Court

Episode Date: October 9, 2024

Sean "Diddy" Combs has filed an appeal asking a higher court to overrule to judges who've denied him bail. Combs has pleaded not guilty to federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges and is being held without bond. His lawyers argue he's not a flight risk and hasn't tried to intimidate witnesses as federal prosecutors have claimed. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes through some of the reasons why Combs believes he should be released in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/CrimeFixHost:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest:Mauricio PadillaCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law & Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Sean Combs making a third pitch to be released on bail. This time, he's going to a higher court, hoping he'll be released on bail as he awaits trial. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. This move by Sean Combs was not unexpected. His lawyer,

Mark Agnifolo, had said they would appeal two judges' rulings denying Sean Combs bail. Sean Combs is basically asking the appeals court to overrule two lower court judges and say they made a big mistake by not granting him bail. Combs is locked up in the federal jail in Brooklyn. It's the Metropolitan Detention Center. And being behind bars would be a shock to anyone. But for Sean Combs, this is not anything he's used to. He's been living in the lap of luxury for decades. And I'm going to get to the key points Combs is making here in a moment. But first, here's how we got here. Combs has pleaded not guilty to three federal charges. Those are racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking by fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution. His attorney has said that Combs hasn't committed any crimes.

His resolve is the same. He believes he's innocent. I believe he's innocent. And we're going to fight this case with all of our might until we don't have to fight any longer. The federal case centers on Cassie Ventura, Combs' ex who filed suit against him last November, alleging years of sexual, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of Combs. She said he forced her to take drugs and take part in freak offs, days long sex parties with male sex workers. The U.S. attorney says Combs used his companies and his power and influence to cover up years of crimes and to commit sex crimes. Combs has been charged

with RICO conspiracy. He used his business and employees of that business and other close associates to get his way. Those individuals allegedly included high-ranking supervisors in the business, personal assistants, security staff, and household staff. The indictment alleges that those individuals facilitated the freak-offs. They booked the hotel rooms and stocked them with the supplies, including drugs, baby oil, personal lubricant, extra linens, and lighting. When the hotel rooms got damaged, they helped clean it up. They arranged for victims and commercial sex workers to travel for the freak-offs, and they delivered large quantities of cash to Combs to pay for the commercial sex workers. The feds say behind the glitz and glamour,

Combs is simply a violent criminal. Federal prosecutors wrote in a bail letter, to be clear, despite the indictment naming one victim in count two, this case is not about just one victim. The government's evidence to date, including the defendant's own communications, demonstrates that the defendant has used force and coercion against multiple victims. In addition to these women, the defendant has assaulted a host of other individuals, including his employees and witnesses to his violence. For example, the defendant directed his rage toward his employees and those close to victim one who had seen him physically abuse victim one, including by throwing these witnesses against walls and onto the ground, choking them, and throwing objects at them, among other things, particularly when they attempted to protect victim one. In doing so, the defendant has demonstrated that he is not

only a danger to victims and witnesses, but is also obstructive and willing to engage whatever is necessary, including physical violence, to instill fear in witnesses to keep them silent. Federal prosecutors say Combs has also tried to obstruct justice by trying to influence witnesses in this criminal case. Defense counsel acknowledges that the defendant has contacted witnesses in the investigation, apparently with counsel's blessing, but claims that the defense has studiously avoided interviewing grand jury witnesses. The fact is the defendant has personally and repeatedly contacted multiple witnesses, including at least one he himself knew was a grand jury witness. The defendant

contacted these witnesses, including at least one whom he had not been in contact with for years after they were served and leading up to the date they were required to appear before the grand jury. Federal prosecutors also believe that Combs is a flight risk, but Combs' attorneys say he's known for months that an indictment was coming and made arrangements to prepare for it by offering a $50 million bail package. They wrote in their appeal, Mr. Combs also paid off the outstanding debt of $18 million on his $48 million home on August 20th, 2024, so it could provide unencumbered security for any future bail package. In the appeal, Combs' lawyers outlined the $50 million bail package

they offered, including a $50 million bond co-signed by seven family members, secured by his home and his mother's, travel restrictions to Florida and the Eastern District of New York, his willingness to be placed on GPS monitoring, surrendering his passport and those of his family members, weekly drug tests, and providing visitor logs. Combs also agreed to not have female visitors. The appeal also cites arguments that Combs' lawyers made to the lower courts that they interviewed male sex workers who said the alleged freak-offs were consensual and not forced upon anyone. Combs' lawyers also say he's not a flight risk and that he flew to

New York on September 5th to prepare to turn himself in and that federal agents opted to take him into custody instead. The cases I cover each day here on Crime Fix show you just how scary the world can be. And one of the scariest things that can happen is if you ever get hurt. But it's important to realize if you're ever hurt in an accident, your case could be worth millions. And that's where our sponsor, Morgan & Morgan, comes in. The firm has an army of more than 1,000 lawyers who will fight for what you deserve, and they have the track record to prove it. In the past few months, Morgan & Morgan has won some huge verdicts like $12 million in Florida, $26 million in Philly, and $6.8 million in New

York. All of those were much higher than the highest insurance company offer. And even if your case isn't worth seven figures, why not start a claim and get the money you deserve? Seeing if you have a case can be done in eight clicks or less, and you don't even have to leave your couch to start one. Also, Morgan & Morgan only gets paid if you get paid. So if you're injured, you can easily start a claim at ForThePeople.com slash CrimeFix. Combs conceded in his appeal that he had spoken with a witness in the case, including a grand jury witness. But his attorney says that contact ended when his lawyers told him not to speak with that person anymore. The lawyers wrote, for example, one witness contacted Mr. Combs, not the other way around. She reached out to Mr. Combs and told him, I'm a grand jury witness. After Mr. Combs

informed defense counsel, he was instructed not to contact the witness anymore and didn't. Of course, the defense explained it must continue to interview witnesses to conduct a responsible defense investigation. Attorney Mauricio Padilla is here to talk with me about this appeal. Mauricio, your first thoughts on Sean Combs' appeal for bail. I reviewed the documents. I don't really think it addresses certain issues that I'm sure that the court has had issues with regarding Mr. Combs having assault weapons with altered serial numbers at his home. I think that's something that any judge, whether it's an appellate judge or a trial court judge, is going to have an issue with because it really puts you out there as a criminal, as somebody that could be a danger to the community, which is one of the factors that

the courts are looking at. I didn't see anything in the motion that they filed in the petition to the appeals court that I think would change the ruling on bail. Very interesting. They're saying that the defense in this case, that he is not a flight risk, that from the very beginning of this case, he has been forthright. This is somebody who's wanted to prove his innocence. In preparation, he knew he was going to be indicted. So on September 5th, he flies to New York and he's hanging out there in preparation to turn himself in and the feds decide to swoop in and take him into custody. Instead, you know, it's kind of like the big bad federal government coming after Sean Combs when he's tried to cooperate.

But, you know, on the other side of the coin, they're saying the government argues, look, he's tried to obstruct justice and essentially intimidate witnesses. Yeah. And that's and that's a problem. I mean, if you look at the history of the case, by the time that they that they serve search warrants on his properties, he was already heated up. Like, it's not like at that moment he had lawsuits pending. He should have known that maybe I shouldn't have machine guns with altered serial numbers at my house. So it doesn't seem like he was thinking rationally, which if you put yourself in the mind of a

trial court judge, he's going to say, he's going to say to himself, you're the same person that at the moment that you had the federal government go into your property, that you had these machine guns with altered serial numbers. Are you the type of person that's going to commit an egregious error while out on bond? Are you the type of person that's going to try to affect the testimony of witnesses, which is literally accused of? So it's an issue for him. And really, no one out there is going to fault a judge for not giving him bail. Right now, P. Diddy is not the favorite person of anybody in the United States or the world, or especially New York. He's someone that he's, you know, a batterer of women. You know, they publicize that. And I don't think that many people are going to criticize the judge for not giving him a bond. Now, on the other hand,

if you do give him a bond and he does anything out of the ordinary, it's bad for the judge and it looks bad. This case really started in November of 2023 when Cassie Ventura filed her civil suit. She is clearly victim number one in the indictment. So the feds are saying he's known since January of 2024 that he was under investigation. He's known that. And he still was doing things behind the scenes that he shouldn't have been doing. But his defense team is saying, look, he's not a flight risk. You know, he's been trying to sell his plane. He's done things. He's moved some money around to

ensure that he could put his property up as part of his bail package. I mean, are these things really good enough? Because these are some very serious federal crimes that he's accused of. And there are so much that the government will probably talk about at trial that we still don't know about. You know, they've talked about it in the bail letter when it comes to racketeering and things like that. But there's so much that's not in the indictment. Am I wrong? No, I don't think you're wrong. And I think it circles back to what I'm saying. So, yeah, if their position is that he knew about it in January of 2024, he wasn't taking it seriously.

How do we know that he wasn't taking it seriously? Well, he had machine guns with altered serial numbers at his home. So he obviously thought that he was probably untouchable above the law. And this whole indictment reeks of someone that thought he was untouchable and beyond the grasp of the law. The problem here is that, yeah, okay, if you're a billionaire like Mr. Combs is, and you'd like to have these freak offs, and you'd like to hire prostitutes, whether they're male or female, to get on your plane and cross state lines to have drug-fueled orgies, you know, hire prostitutes, whether they're male or female, to get on your plane and cross state lines to have drug-fueled orgies, you know what? Somebody in your circle should be telling you

you're breaking federal laws when you do this. Because what somebody would have considered, you know, 2009 to be a fun weekend, and now in 2024, post-Epstein, people are like, that's human trafficking. You think it's cool to fill your plane with prostitutes and go have a drug fueled orgy, but you're committing federal crimes. And I think somebody should have alerted him to him. But then again, it's consistent. His actions are consistent with someone that thought that he was above the law up to and to including the moment that they that they served search warrants on his property. We all know that jail is not fun. And the MDC especially has a really bad reputation. So I can understand why they've argued twice now for bail.

But taking it to the appeals court kind of takes it to a whole other level. And the likelihood of success to me seems low. I don't think the court of appeals, I mean, this is just me looking at it. I don't think they're going to overrule two lower court judges on this decision. Why are they doing this? Why are they doing this? Okay. The answer is simple because you have a client that's asking you to, and you have a client like Mr. Combs that despite acting like a gangster is not a gangster. He's, he's a record executive. He's been famous since he was almost a teenager. He doesn't know what it is to really be involved in organized crime, despite the fact

that he was acting like it, he doesn't know what it's like to be incarcerated. So now he's totally freaking out and he's pestering them and asking them. So, you know, what they're doing now is more probably to appease their client than to get a favorable ruling from the court. Because I agree with you, a trial court, an appellate court judge is not going to interfere with a trial court's determination that affects the public safety. Because all of a sudden something happens and it's going to land on whatever appellate judge wanted to disturb what the trial court judge ruled. So, yeah, I agree with you. I don't see them doing it, but they're in a position where they have a high-profile client paying them a lot of money and asking them to do it. So they're in a position where they're going to have to do it. And listen, and I understand from being a criminal defense attorney, preparing to go to trial with your client in custody and in custody, like like in a place where Mr.

Combs is, is not is not favorable to the defense. It puts a lot of restrictions on, you know, preparation, how you can access your client. It really affects the preparation for trial. But they're in they're in the position that they're in. And the trial court made that decision. And it circles back to when I read the indictment and I saw those machine guns, I was like, that is the straw that broke the camel's back when regarding whether or not we're going to give this guy bail. Because you know what? You could maybe justify everything.

It was consensual. And everybody involved in these orgies was consensual. And I gave people drugs because they wanted drugs, not because I wanted to control them. But why do you have these machine guns with ultra serial numbers? Why? Because you're acting like a gangster. The guns with the scratched off serial numbers are very concerning. Uh, and it's scary. Um, you know, you hit on a point that I want to talk about just finally here. They do point out in their appeal that, you know, they have all this evidence that this was consensual. There were no crimes committed. And they've been saying that, that, you know, these so-called freak offs were consensual. So is that going to win the day here?

I mean, I mean, putting that in the bail application, I get what they're saying. But is that argument going to win the day? I mean, listen, I said this from the beginning. The defense here has to be, yeah, he's a freak, but he's not a criminal. And everybody involved in these freak offs, it was consensual. And I'm sure you're going to see a trial. You're going to see evidence that it kind of was, you know, people like excited. Oh, you know, I look forward to seeing you in Chicago.

I look forward to seeing you here. I'm sure we're going to see evidence that it's consensual until the moment that someone says that it's not. That's why when you're at a billionaire, you have to protect yourself and you can't leave yourself at the mercy of people's testimony that can change from one day to the next, one month to the next, or one year to the next, because now they're going to go retroactively back. And every single person's going to be like, oh, no, I was there against my will, or he showed me a video and he was blackmailing me, or that's the problem. And that's the position that he's put himself in. And I think that I think that they're going to have evidence that he was using these freak offs and he was using the entire scheme that he was of these videos to control people to get favorable results from other record executives. Listen, if you're a record executive, a politician, a performer or an actor, and you've been involved in an orgy with Mr. Combs, you're in big trouble.

And, you know, I've spoken about this before. When they say that, you know, he's the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this investigation, it never works that way. Mr. Combs is a big name, but there's much bigger names. And, you know, and we look at politicians. I mean, a couple of weeks after Mr. Combs got indicted, the mayor got indicted of New York. Does it have anything to do with it? Maybe not. But that's really the goal of the federal government. They like entertainers, but they like politicians more. So whoever P. Diddy can now start pointing the finger to, I think that that's what's going to happen. I think he's going to try and save himself and he's going to start pointing the finger to other people. Interesting.

Mauricio Padilla, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.