Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was denied bail and remanded to jail again on Wednesday 18 September.
The rapper was initially denied bail and ordered to await trial at a jail in Brooklyn during his arraignment on Tuesday 17 September.
Combs’ legal team promptly appealed the judge’s decision to deny bail and returned to court the following afternoon. In a letter to a second judge, his lawyers described conditions at Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn as “horrific” and “not fit for pre-trial detention”.
His defence team proposed in court that Combs live at home alone in Florida with a 24/7 security team that would monitor a pre-approved guest list. He offered to give up access to his mobile phone and internet and, in the words of his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, “do nothing but prepare for his trial”.
But Judge Andrew L Carter Jr decreed, “There is no condition or combination of conditions to ensure he will not obstruct justice or tamper with witnesses.”
Combs, dressed in the same black shirt and grey striped track pants he wore during his first bail hearing, dipped his head and looked down at the defence table when he heard the judge’s decision, reports People magazine.
The rapper is charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has entered a not-guilty plea.
