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This Thanksgiving, Sean "Diddy" Combs will remain incarcerated. According to NBC News, the judge rejected the Bad Boys Records owner's bail request after his legal team filed the third appeal to have him released from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, prior to his trial on May 5. No conditions will reasonably assure community safety, according to the Nov. 27 ruling.
The judge's ruling follows two prior appeals by Combs' legal team requesting his release from federal custody, as well as a court appearance on November 22 in which the 55-year-old and his attorneys requested his release once more.
According to NBC News, Combs' attorney Marc Agnifilo recommended during the court appearance that Combs, who has entered a not guilty plea to federal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy following his arrest on September 17, be moved to a three-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side. There, he will be protected by Patriot Security, a private security firm, and will only be permitted to call his lawyers.
According to NBC News, Agnifilo's proposed terms for Combs' release would permit his family to visit the home, including his children Quincy, 33, Justin, 30, Christian "King," 26, Chance, 18, twins Jessie and D'Lila, 17, and Love Sean, 23 months.
In support of his claim, Agnifilo brought up another well-known case involving Mike Jeffries, the CEO of Abercombie & Fitch, who was accused of operating a sex trafficking ring last month, including 15 counts of prostitution and one count of sex trafficking. Jeffries entered a not guilty plea and was freed pending trial on a $10 million bond. According to Reuters, he is presently under home confinement with GPS monitoring.
The prosecution countered that Combs' most recent release request might be "dangerous."
During the court hearing on November 22, prosecutor Christy Slavik stated, "He is paying his way out of custody and continues to flout the rules; he is a risk of flight; he is a danger to the community; and he is obstructing and trying to subvert the integrity of these proceedings."
According to NBC News, prosecutors also claimed that Combs had been "witness tampering" while incarcerated during the court appearance. The prosecution made additional arguments against the rapper's release in a subsequent 13-page document that was obtained by the outlet and filed by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams on November 25.
Combs allegedly "blatantly flouted the law, instructing family members and third parties to contact multiple potential victims and witnesses by using unauthorized means of communication" while in federal custody, according to Williams' filing.
According to the filing, Combs was also responsible for a "social media campaign" for his birthday on November 4th, in which all of his kids posted a video of themselves calling their father in jail, with Sean Love leading a performance of "Happy Birthday" in front of a cake. The prosecution argued that the Instagram post was “for the express purpose of influencing the jury.”
Additionally, the prosecution contended that Combs "simply cannot be trusted" and that the terms of his possible release do not protect "future violence and obstruction," specifically the musician's use of a private security company in the apartment.
The rapper is already "drowning in a sea of negative publicity," according to Combs' lawyer Alexandra Shapiro, who later replied to the filing, claiming that his birthday post was "entirely innocuous" and that his social media posts—as well as any public statement—fall under his First Amendment rights.
