Law&Crime Sidebar - P. Diddy Gets a Big Win in Rape Case

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

Sean “Diddy” Combs, the disgraced music mogul and rapper, is facing lawsuits from multiple plaintiffs who claim he sexually assaulted them. The allegations have come from men, women, and even people who say they were just children when they were targeted. Now at least one of those cases has reached a conclusion. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber has the latest.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you or a loved one have suffered physical or mental health issues due to video games, visit https://vgclaims.com/Sidebar to answer less than 10 questions and check your eligibility to file a claim!HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Christina FalconeScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest 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.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller

that 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. Versus Sean Cohns, Sean Puff Daddy Combs, also known as Sean P. Diddy, also known as Diddy, Bad Boy Records, label owner, comma, founder, also known as Puffee Daddy, comma, bad boy, Diddy Run the City, comma, Sean Combs, also known as Sean Puffey Cromes. A big win for Sean Ditty Combs as he faces criminal and civil actions related to his alleged bad behavior over the years. An inmate Michigan who claims that Combs sexually assaulted him back in the 1990s had his case thrown out of federal court. We're going to take a

look at some of the wildest accusations that Derek Cardello Smith made in his motions and why he insists the case should continue. Welcome to Sidebar. Presented by Law and Crime, I'm Jesse Weber. Hey, everybody, this is a law and crime legal alert. So recent allegations against the multi-billion dollar video game industry claim that video games are engineered for addiction. The claims include trying to make sense of the hold that video games seem to have over people where they just can't put the controller down. Every win triggers a hit of dopamine

and it creates a cycle of compulsion, disrupts daily life, harms mental health. Well, our legal sponsors are taking on the industry that is allegedly at many times put profit over safety and they're working to potentially get compensation for all of those impacted. So if you were a loved one, have suffered physical or mental health issues due to video games,

visit vG claims.com slash sidebar to answer less than 10 questions and check your eligibility to file a claim. So the man who went viral for being granted $100,000, million dollar default judgment against Sean Diddy Combs, then had it taken away, unfortunately, for him. Well, he has lost his most recent battle, but will this be the last that we see of the incredibly litigious Derek Cardello Smith? Who is he again? If you're like, who is this guy? What are we talking about? Ah, well, he is an inmate currently incarcerated at the Ernst C. Brooks

Correctional Facility out in Michigan. This is a guy who's been convicted multiple times for criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping. In fact, last year, Cardello Smith, if you really want to talk about how we know about him, he appeared last year on a judge's live stream from prison representing himself to explain that he wanted an injunction against Sean Diddy Combs. According to Gardello Smith, Combs owed him millions of dollars. So what he wanted was Combs to be prevented from selling his mansion out in Los Angeles because there might have been an alleged effort to hide or get rid of assets. But what's the connection between Cardello Smith and Sean Combs? Well, in court filings, Cardello Smith claims he alleges that Combs drugged and raped him at a party in the 1990s

out in Detroit. And he has even said that he has spoken with Sean Combs multiple times about a payout, even in person, which is something that Combs strongly denies. His attorneys later told the court, we don't even know who this guy is. But since Combs' team didn't respond to that lawsuit when it was filed and Combs was allegedly served, the judge granted a default judgment in favor of Cardello Smith. And that meant Cardello Smith was apparently going to get $100 million. A default judgment is you don't respond. The court automatically rules in the opposing party's favor. So he's going to get $100 million. But of course, what he would do with it from behind bars is unclear. But I will tell you, the victory didn't last long. Why? Because Combs lawyer said, look, we didn't

even know Combs had been sued, that we just heard about this default judgment in the media. So they immediately contacted the court to get things worked out, and that default judgment was revoked. And the case was also moved from state to federal court. Now, of course, during all this, Combs and his legal team, they are dealing with other major legal fights, including more than a dozen civil lawsuits accusing the disgraced music mogul of rape and assault, as well as, of course, federal criminal charges that he's facing related to sex trafficking, racketeering, his trial currently scheduled for May of 2025. Now, Combs has always denied any and all alleged sexual misconduct and says he is looking

forward to proving his innocence in court. Now, going back to Cardella Smith, the fight against Cardella Smith, this wouldn't be an easy one. He has become something of a serial filer of lawsuits and habeas corpus petitions and other filings in state and federal courts, most often representing himself. He's got these long legal filing, sometimes hundreds of pages long. They're full of citations and case law. I will tell you, though, Cardella Smith's personality certainly comes through in some of the language that he uses. He's also a big fan of run-on sentences. But anyway, attorneys for Combs have called out Cardella Smith, specifically that his claims, they say, are wildly untrue. They say his allegations

are baseless, that Combs has never met him, that what he's trying to do. do is extort millions of dollars from a man who's already facing a lot of legal trouble. So they asked the judge to throw this whole case out. And that is what happened. According to the judgment filed in the Eastern District of Michigan, the motion to dismiss was granted. Permission to file an interlocutory appeal was denied, and Combs motion for sanctions against Cardella Smith was also denied. We're going to talk all about that. But I want to first look at the request for dismissal. So Combs team says, look, even if this did happen, which they insist, it didn't. This case is time barred. The statute of limitations has run out. According to the

filing in 1997, when this alleged assault happened, the statute of limitations was three years to bring a claim. So the court ruled because plaintiff's claim is time barred, the court grants the motion to dismiss. And what about that interlocutory appeal? What is that, by the way? So that's basically an appeal of a judge's order about a specific issue while the main case is still going on. So you're appealing an issue while the case still proceeds, but if that issue is heard and decided by a higher court, it can definitely have an effect on the entirety of the case. So here, for example, with the respect to an interlocutory appeal, it's about moving the case to state court from federal court. So as the court's order mentions, interlocutory appeals, they are, quote, granted sparingly and only in exceptional cases. But there's a bigger issue why an interlocutory appeal doesn't work here.

The court writes, granting permission for an interlocutory appeal would not accelerate the conclusion of this litigation because this litigation has now reached a final conclusion. Accordingly, plaintiff's motion for permission to file an interlocutory appeal is denied. Basically, it's moot. It's over. There's no point of it. Then there's the third order on sanctions. So Colmes lawyers want Cardello Smith to be punished in some way for what they say amounts basically to harassment and extortion. We've talked about this before on other sidebars that if you're a lawyer or, you know, you're representing yourself,

you can't file frivolous claims and frivolous complaints and frivolous motions. They have to be backed up by the facts, the law. They can't be done just to harass or intimidate anybody. Otherwise, you're going to get into the bad side of the court and you'll be punished. So, Combs team writes, defendant provides several grounds for his request. He alleges that plaintiff, again, talking about Cardella Smith, that plaintiff's allegations are whole sense. fabrications, plaintiff has forged documents, and plaintiff has filed meritless and duplicative documents. So part of those alleged wholesale fabrications are apparently fake documents. Yeah,

Combs and his team say that Cardello Smith filed things with the court that were completely made up. And by the way, even though he's representing himself, he's not immune from sanctions or being punished by the court. You decide to represent yourself, he faced the same consequences as any other attorney. So one of those filings, or fake filings, is from back in December. And in it, a person alleging to be Sean Combs seemingly admits to raping Cardello Smith and admits to pinning other rape cases on Cardello Smith and promises to pay the inmate $35 million.

Wow, I can't believe that Sean Combs would admit to all this. My gosh. Well, I want to take a look at this document that was. put together by Cardello Smith, which the defense says is complete nonsense. Remember, this is supposed to be in Sean Combs' voice. It reads, I agree to the settlement offered to this plaintiff in the original amount of $35 million, and the only reason I am disclosing it is because plaintiff wanted it made public in order for me to not fight the case anymore and to remove any hint of denial of plaintiff's claim

of sexual assault I did upon him and other measures that have been discussed throughout previous meetings at the facilities over the years when I met with plaintiff and my agents met with plaintiff at various prisons. So the man claiming to be Sean Combs then switches to all caps for some reason. Quote, Derek, you also must agree to not release the names and addresses of the properties where I stayed and where our parties happened. And at most importantly, Derek, you agree to not release the names and addresses of the people in Michigan who attended those parties and you agree to not release the addresses of the recordings in Michigan that we did and in return for your silence, I will notify Kim Worthy through my connections and Mark

Agnifalo to get the ladies who lied on you and said that you raped them to come forward. By the way, a little backstory here on what we're talking about. So Cardello Smith, as I mentioned, he's currently locked up and he's locked up for sex crimes. He insists, though, that he's innocent, that the police set him up. He was convicted of two counts of third-degree sexual conduct in 1998 was eventually paroled. But when he got out, prosecutors say he committed more sexual offenses because he was convicted in 2008 on six counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of kidnapping. He ended up entering a plea of no contest in that case.

And then in 2019, he was convicted again of four counts of first-degree sexual misconduct. So this alleged Diddy stipulation continues. Again, it's in all caps. And by the way, if this was really Sean Combs' writings, it appears like it's all handwritten. If Combs really did agree to this and write this wouldn't have been in the proper format and proper form? I don't know, something to think about. But anyway, it reads, and I will testify for you, again, this is supposed to be Sean Combs. And I will testify for you that you are in fact innocent of any crimes on them.

And Derek, you have to agree to release the police report. because it implicates me that in that Tupac deal and I'm already suffering in here and do not need that kind of pressure on me right now, okay? Wait, did he just say Tupac? You know, we recently told you about this, that another criminal defendant, D. Davis, filed a motion to dismiss his murder case in Las Vegas court. Remember, he's accused of being complicit in the murder of Tupac. He says it was actually Sean Combs, who ordered the hit on Tupac Shakur back in the 1990s.

So the judge in that case actually denied the motion to disqualify. Smith, but Davis is on the record accusing Combs of putting out that hip. We actually did a whole sidebar episode on it. You can go check it out on our long crime YouTube page for a more deeper dive on that. But again, so now you have Cardello Smith mentioning Tupac. Now at the end of the document, the person, again, purporting to be Sean Combs, writes, I know Mark is going to come out and say that this is not a true document, but I have been working on this for days and code and everything to get it done because these N-words are watching me and I cannot have this be made public. So handle that and when I get out, we will settle up. Just do not do another restraining order on me,

okay? That effed me up royally. Okay, so first of all, I correction. So if this really is Sean Combs, now I know why it's a handwritten note and you know why he didn't formally write it up or his lawyers didn't. So it's in secret. He's apparently writing it up while he's at the Metropolitan Detention Center. Okay, makes sense now. Sorry. By the way, Mark seemingly refers to Mark Agnifalo, the high-powered attorney that is representing Combs in federal court in his criminal case. Now, this document, by the way, is allegedly even notarized, but Sean Combs' legal team says that is a complete fiction. They say Combs never even wrote this, never said any of this. He allegedly doesn't even know who Cardello Smith was until this case was filed. But Cardello

Smith says that Combs is the one who is a, quote, admitted liar. And that seems to be in reference to the aftermath of a lawsuit that was filed by Combs' ex-girlfriend Cassandra Venture. back in November of 2023. It's that bombshell suit that sort of got the ball rolling on all the litigation and criminal charges that Combs is facing. She accused him, remember, of not only assaulting her, but also sex trafficking her and forcing her to participate in the so-called freakoffs at different locations with male sex workers. But Combs had settled that lawsuit the next day, continued to deny any wrongdoing. But then CNN released that leaked surveillance video of Cassie and Combs in a hotel hallway in Los Angeles where Cassie claims that she was

trying to leave a freak off. But Combs came running down the hallway in a towel, stopped her. He can be seen on camera hitting her, kicking her. It is extremely violent. And then after that video was released, Combs seemed to change his tune. He put out an apology video on Instagram, which has since been removed. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. Disgusted. So Cardello Smith is saying that Combs can't be trusted to tell the truth. First, he says he did nothing wrong, and then he apologizes after the video came out.

So the judge's order reads, plaintiff responds by alleging that defendant is an admitted liar who's attempting to retaliate against plaintiff. He also asserts that he's attempted to follow court rules and will comply with the court's orders. Plaintiff acknowledges that he is a restricted filer in the Western District. of Michigan as a result of his habeas litigation there, meaning he was just filing so much stuff that didn't make sense. He had to be, there had to be a restriction put on what he could file there. But he asserts that he is complied with that court's orders and intends to continue doing

so. He also denies that his past lawsuits were frivolous. He further denies that his lawsuits against defendant are duplicative or brought in bad faith. So will there be legal or monetary sanctions levied against Cardello Smith like the defense wanted well, the order says, if the court could be confident that dismissal would deter plaintiff from further duplicative lawsuits or filings against defendant, then that would favor less restrictive sanctions or a warning. However, the court notes that despite the dismissal of plaintiff's other federal case against defendant, he has continued to file on that docket. The court is therefore concerned that plaintiff, when he is a losing party in a case, will resist being bound by the court's decision

and will persist in duplicative or frivolous filings. The court cautions plaintiff to refrain from duplicative frivolous or harassing filings, including the filing of additional lawsuits related to the allegations in this case or the filing of unnecessary papers on the dockets of cases that have been dismissed. Failure to heed this warning will result in significant pre-filing restrictions being placed on plaintiff. Defendant's motion for sanctions is denied, however, the court cautions plaintiff that it will impose appropriate sanctions if he disregards the court's warnings and admonitions in this order. So not entirely. clear what that punishment will be. Maybe he'll just completely be restricted from making

filings on his own. But this case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it's dismissed permanently, can't be refiled. And we will see if Derek Cardello Smith will choose to not file any more frivolous lawsuits. 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 YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.