Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has filed a third appeal requesting bail before his sex trafficking trial.
The disgraced rapper is currently residing at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn following his arrest last month.
On Tuesday, Combs made his third bid to overturn a Manhattan judge’s no-bail ruling as he filed a brief with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Combs was denied bail after being branded a “serial abuser and serial obstructer” by the Manhattan US Attorney’s office as it was claimed the star could intimate witnesses or even flee before his trial if he was released.
In the new legal papers, defence lawyer Alexandra Shapiro has argued the “government’s arguments about the risk of obstruction were based on speculation, resting mainly on untested allegations about communications with witnesses in civil cases and communications initiated by supposed witnesses and not Mr. Combs.”
Shapiro added in the legal brief that the “sensationalism surrounding” Combs’ arrest had “distorted the bail analysis”.
The lawyer claimed the music star has been kept behind bars despite offering to “comply with restrictive conditions that would have prevented any conceivable risk of flight or danger”.
Combs’ legal team previously failed to persuade a judge to release him before his trial despite offering a bail package that included electronic monitoring, home detention and $50 million bail.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution.
