Law&Crime Sidebar - Michigan Inmate Accusing ‘Diddy’ of Rape Gets a Win in Court

Episode Date: August 8, 2024

Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith says disgraced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs drugged and raped him at a party in Detroit in 1997. Cardello-Smith claims the rapper is selling his Los Angeles home in an effort to keep assets away from a future potential settlement with him. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber has Cardello-Smith’s win in court and the disturbing allegations laid out in his complaint.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Download the FREE Upside App at https://upside.app.link/sidebar to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas.HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger and Christina FalconeScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY 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/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Everything that you're looking at, they're all tied in together. Every part, as crazy as it seems, as outrageous as it seems, it all ties in every bit of it, every bad side. A man who's been in and out of prison since the 90s and is known in the Michigan criminal justice system for filing multiple lawsuits and appeals has a new target in his sights, Sean Diddy Combs. As the rapper faces legal attacks from all sides, what does this latest information mean for the disgraced rapper? Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime.

I'm Jesse Weber. Today we're going to introduce you to quite a character. Derek Lee L.O. Smith. He is an inmate at Ernest C. Brooks Correctional Facility out in Michigan. And this week, he was granted a temporary restraining order against rapper Sean Diddy Combs, who has been in the news quite a lot in the past few months. And Mr. Smith's reasoning is very, very interesting. Hey, I want to quickly thank Upside for sponsoring this episode of Sidebar. So Upside is a free app that gets you cash back on daily essentials like gas and groceries. Now, believe it or not, I pump my own gas. Yes, yes, I do. And when I do, I can use the free Upside app. I mean, why not get cashback when you fill up your tank, right? And yes, this is actual real cashback. It's money that appears in your upside app that you can transfer straight into your bank account. So once you have the upside app, you claim an offer for whatever you're buying on upside. You pay as usual using a debit or credit card. And as you saw me just do, you can use upside of places like Shell, Exxon, Mobile, 711, Taco Bell. That's just to name a few, by the way. So to find out how much you can earn, click the link in the description to download upside or scan the QR code. on screen and use our promo code sidebar and you'll get an extra 25 cents back on every gallon

on your first tank of gas. That's promo code sidebar for an extra 25 cents back on your first gallon of gas. Now Cardello Smith, who's currently locked up for several sexual offenses, he's representing himself in this matter and he appeared virtually in court on Wednesday. This is in the matter of Derek Lee Cardello Smith at MDOC number 267-009 versus Sean Sean Puff Daddy Combs, also known as Sean P. Diddy, also known as Diddy, bad boy records, label owner, comma, founder, also known as P. Daddy, comma, bad boy, diddy run the city, comma, Sean Combs, also known as Sean Puffington.combs. And this is file number 24-7362N0. I'll grab your paperwork here real quick out of this other paperwork. We do have Mr. Cardella Smith appearing from the Michigan Department of Corrections. Sir, where are you currently located?

I'm located at the Ernest C. Brooks Correctional Facility, 2,500 South Sheridan Drive, Muskegon, Michigan, 49444M. All right, thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Thank you. So I do see that we do have a proof service on Mr. Combs. But for purposes of this hearing, you filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and or a preliminary injunction to stop all sales of the property and assets attached to or involved with said property based on the interest of plaintiff and plaintiff's connections to defendant's sexual assault, a plaintiff, Derek Lee Cardell Smith requiring a preliminary injunction. and or a temporary restraining order.

Do you wish to argue the motion today, sir? Yes, Your Honor. All right, you may proceed then. Okay, the purpose of it is based on two actions taken by Mr. Combs himself directly with me here. We did a live one-on-one visit in our prison visiting room. There's two meetings within the past two weeks with Mr. Combs on one meeting,

and then a financial advisor on the other meeting on Mr. Combs' behalf. And he stated that he would make me an offer to end the case and what happened to me because of other things that he stated he has going on in his life that require his money right now and he wants to sell everything off. And he made me a financial offer of $2.3 million to allow what happened to me to go away. And he stated that he's going to be selling his property. And under the 2005, California Civil Code 2881-2885, the creation of lanes, which allows out-of-state justices and orders to cause a stop of any title transfer, property transfers in Los Angeles or any other place that he has property, he stated that he wouldn't be able to proceed with that sale. and he did it the day after I served him the suit.

And he also said that he won't be filing an answer to the complaint. He said, you can find me in default or whatever. He has a better chance with default than he would with having a restraining order stop. And I said, so you want to hide what you want to hide your money and suffering being quite possibly paid to me if I'm given the benefit of a judgment in my favor for what you've done to me? And he pretty much said, yeah, he says, you know how we get down. And I said, okay, well, I disagree with how you get down. Your sales shouldn't go through. So I'm going to hold on.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Okay. So you went in a different direction that I thought you were going into. I thought we were just going to focus. No, no, no. We are.

You kind of went off on a different direction than what your actual emotion was. Yeah. So what I just want to say is settlement, negotiations. In this case, they're probably better not, yeah, they're not for to be placed on the record today. Okay. No, no, no, no, it's okay. You're not an attorney.

I understand that. So if we can just backtrack and focus just on your motion for care. Okay, thank you. If he's allowed to sell his property that he has in LA and the properties that are in his name, being used and held by other people in Michigan, then it will cause me harm because I can be tied directly to those properties through loans and through other areas of investment that I did when I was out there and while in prison through money that I've sent. And if he's allowed to go through with any of the sales,

I won't be able to recoup any of my monies or anything from them as a result of any possible judgment in this action. if he's allowed to proceed with it. And an injunction or a restraining order would help ensure that he's not manipulating and selling the property to avoid this, his responsibility in these matters here. That's what a temporary restraining order would do. It would prevent that from happening. It's a very serious matter.

It involves a lot of money, a lot of money. and him selling this is would help him avoid his liability for these actions done upon me and I was just hoping that I'd be able to get the restraining order to prevent that there won't be any harm to him any of any parties there won't be any harm to him in any way and if it's deemed that it's not justified then he can go ahead and go ahead and through with the sale at the end of the case but one has to be put in place to stop this from happening okay um okay so thank you very much um yes so cardella smith who claims he met personally with combs over the last few weeks wants this injunction to prevent combs from selling property and why does this

matter because you might remember that in july as we reported Combs had listed his home in the Homely Hills area of Los Angeles for $70 million. No word yet on whether there's any takers there, but that is the same home that Homeland Security agents raided back in the spring, reportedly in connection with a sex trafficking investigation by the Southern District of New York. Now, to be clear, no charges or arrests have come as a result of that, but we're continually following that developing story. Now, as Judge Anna Marie Anzalone stepped away from the bench, for a moment to check on another piece of paperwork. Cardello Smith kind of made chit-chat with an attorney

who happened to be in the courtroom. All right, I'm going to check one more of your filings. So I'm going to step off the bench for two seconds and I'll be right back, all right? Yes, Joe Jans alone. Thank you. You with the defense? No, sir.

I'm having a hearing and they stopped the hearing so you could be heard. Oh, thank you. Nice tie. Thank you. Couldn't wear one. They don't give us ties. Yeah, there's a reason for that. Right.

Yeah, there is. But they have Clipons, you know. Yeah. Clipons are the best, aren't they? So I received your complaint and all the attachments to it. And then I received this motion. And I just wanted to take a moment to review back through the U.S. district civil docket and your complaint. So I did do that.

That's all. Okay. Anything else? All of everything that you're looking at, they're all tight and together. Every part as crazy as it seems, as outrageous as it seems, it all ties in every bit of it, every facet. Okay. All right. Well, I have a proof of service showing that Mr. Combs was served on July 6th of 2000 and, let me see. Is that 24? Yes, yeah. All right, let's take a look. the complaint that Cardello Smith filed here that this temporary restraining order is in connection

to. Now, Cardella Smith claims that in 1997, he was a bartender at a restaurant in Detroit. He says he was invited to a gathering at the Holiday Inn where Combs would be partying. The complaint reads, quote, plaintiff was excited to attend this gathering and did so because this was Sean Puff Daddy Combs, bad boys. Plaintiff had participated in and consumed alcohol with Mr. Combs and the ladies and other security. Puffy was shockingly cool and someone who seemed like really decent normal guy. Cardell Smith goes on to allege that he participated in group sex with several women and Combs but said that when Combs shown an interest in him, he immediately got up and sat on a couch. By the way, a little side note here, these allegations are very similar

to what has been alleged in several lawsuits that have been filed against Sean Combs since November of 2023. Recall he's facing allegations of sex trafficking, rape, harassment, abuse, and so forth. But Cardella Smith's complaint states, quote, I then went to get another drink and Sean asked me if I needed something else. I said no, and he said, here, drink this one. And I thought it was another glass of Jim Beam. So I took it because I had sat one down in the other room and then I drank some more. And I stayed sitting there and began getting drowsy and started to pass out. And then Sean Combs said to me, I added a little something to it for you. I will get that from you anyway. One way or another, I then passed out.

Cardell Smith claims that when he woke up, Combs admitted he sexually assaulted him when he was unconscious. Cardell Smith claims that he left. He never went back. He alleges he filed a police report, but couldn't talk about what happened to him. He says therapy in prison helped him realize that he was a victim of rape. And he goes on to claim that Combs paid off police to keep the whole thing quiet. Quote, the defendant paid Detroit and Monroe police officers to keep it hidden, and they hit it very, very well, and have kept it hidden for many decades, but not anymore. When the complaint against Combs, Cardello Smith is asking for $100 million, and then Cardello Smith makes the claim during this hearing, and this is where it takes an even bigger turn, that Combs and or his associates, came to the Michigan prison in person to offer him $23 million

instead. So then Combs lists his Los Angeles property as being up for sale, and Cardello Smith takes an issue with this, because in his motion for the temporary restraining order, Cardello Smith claims the property sale transfer of title or deed should not take place because it is being done so for the sole purpose of depriving this plaintiff of any monetary judgment that would be entered in favor of the plaintiff in the event this matter went to a jury trial now the judge looked over this paperwork heard his argument and actually granted the injunction the temporary restraining order to stop combs from selling property for a period of 90 days you don't

don't really see that. Non-attorneys winning legal motions, arguments, so that was a big deal. Then again, he kind of has a history of filing legal papers, so he might have learned how to do all this, but also Cardella Smith wasn't done yet. No, he also wanted to have a default judgment entered against Combs because he claims that Combs didn't file an answer, which is a legal response, to the summons. And so the judge let him know about next steps. So you're going to have file the affidavit and request for default. Okay. Okay. Yes, Your Honor. And obviously you'll be able to file that before a pretrial date anyway, okay? Yes, ma'am. Yes, Your Honor. Okay, so the order was granted? Your ex parte motion was granted, or your motion for a temporary

restraining order was granted. I've signed it, and so we'll get that processed and back to you, and then you'll have to obviously serve that on the parties. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Can you order All right. Any, Your Honor, can you add on your order? Any, any Michigan representatives of him acting on his behalf for Michigan properties as well as part of that order? Or does that, does your order cover everything? You provided the order.

So I'm going off. Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Yeah. So I'm going off the order you provided to me. And I've signed that order already. That's what I needed.

Thank you. All right. Thank you, Your Honor. Thank you, Mr. Cardello Smith. And we'll make sure. the writ's done and we'll see you back in September. Thank you. Thank you. God bless. Thank you. So it seems at the very least he's going to be able to present an argument about default judgment, meaning he automatically should win this. But we will see if the court ultimately accepts it and Cardello

Smith is going to be scheduled back in court in September. But I want to give you just a little bit more background here about him because I think it's important. It puts it all in context. So Derek Lee Cardello Smith, sometimes known as just Derek Lee Smith, is very well known to the Michigan court system because over the last couple of decades, Smith has filed dozens of criminal appeals and civil complaints to the point that some officers of the court have allegedly called him, quote, a nuisance. For example, that includes a lawsuit that he filed against the Archdiocese of Detroit, Assumption Grotto Church and School, St. Jude Parish, St. Judge Rectory, St. Jude's School, plus at least one priest and one Monsignor claiming he was sexually abused and was silenced

when he tried to report what happened to him. Now, his court record indicates that in 1998, he was convicted of two counts of third-degree sexual conduct, and when he was paroled and while out, prosecutors say he committed more sexual offenses. He was convicted in 2008 on six counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, two counts of kidnapping. He pled no contest in that case, and then in 2019, he was convicted of four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Cardell Smith has appealed all of those convictions over the years, contends that he was falsely accused of rape in 1998, that he was set up by the police. Recently, Cardella Smith has attempted to file multiple documents with the Michigan Court of Appeals, many of which have

seemingly been rejected because they were filed incorrectly. And remember, Cardello Smith is representing himself, so that wouldn't be surprising. Now, in a recent opinion, A judge for the Western District of Michigan wrote that Cardello Smith has, quote, filed many, many habeas corpus petitions in this court and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Each of his prior petitions has been denied, dismissed, or transferred to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals as second and or successive. Now, by the way, habeas corpus is a legal challenge to one's detention, saying it's unlawful. But that same judge wrote this opinion back in 2018, quote, petitioner has also filed the number of

habeas petitions that related to prison conditions or misconduct determinations, courts have dismissed those petitions because the issues raised were not cognizable on habeas review. Additionally, petitioner has filed a number of petitions relating to the denial of parole. Petitioner also filed one petition relating to a first-degree murder conviction and sentence. Petitioner reports he was sentenced for the offense on the same day as his 2008 convictions, but the court can find no record of that conviction or sentence. Finally, Petitioner filed one petition that did not indicate what state action he was challenging or why he was challenging it. Bottom line, Cardell Smith is certainly known for being litigious.

Are these real claims that he's making, particularly against Sean Combs? Or is he just jumping on the bandwagon of legal action against Sean Combs? We shall see. He won a temporary legal victory. We will see what happens next. That's all we have for you right now here on. Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.

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