Attorney Manny Medrano, a former U.S. Attorney, breaks down the federal indictment against Sean "Diddy" Combs. The charges involve alleged sexual encounters with women and paid male prostitutes at events called "freakouts." Combs faces potential life imprisonment if convicted, and a judge denied his $50 million bail request, citing his wealth and history of anger.
Chapters
Right now at 5:30, our coverage continues on the charges brought against Sean "Diddy" Combs. He entered a not guilty plea in federal court today. He is currently being held without bail.
Joining us to talk about the case is attorney Manny Medrano with the Ramon Law Firm. Manny, thank you very much for joining us.
My pleasure, thank you.
All right, so he's been under federal investigation for at least 6 months. Are you surprised it took this long to file these charges?
I am not surprised at all. This is a major indictment by one of the leading prosecutorial offices in the, in the United States, and that's the U.S. Attorney's Office out of New York City. Because what happens, it's very common to have a series of civil lawsuits filed against the target, which is exactly what happened here. You know that there's a chock-full of civil lawsuits filed by many of the victims in this case, and it was just a question of time for the indictment to come down. It finally did. It was unsealed. The defendant is in custody with no bail. And I just have to tell you right now, if convicted, he's probably never going to see the light of day again because if you get up to life in prison for these very serious charges.
Manny, we all know you worked as a federal prosecutor. As you look at this now, is there anything different or special or unique about this case?
Well, uh, special and unique— let me, uh, Colleen, let me answer that this way, okay? Because the, the U.S. Attorney's Office is generally— as you know, I was a U.S. Attorney here in L.A.— you don't indict cases if you don't feel you have a very, very strong case. And here clearly the prosecutors in New York feel that they have more than ample evidence to potentially convict the defendant and send him to prison for the rest of his life. You know, the core of the charges are salacious and incredibly serious. Freakouts is what they would call them, where Combs would lure women under the pretense of romantic relationships, ply them with alcohol and liquor, and then force them to have sexual encounters with paid male prostitutes in the New York area and other areas so that The allegations are unbelievably serious, which is why you had the feds get involved. So at the end of the day, Colleen and Danielle, things look absolutely terrible for Combs.
I have to tell you, you know, Manny, Diddy's ex-girlfriend reached a settlement in November that included an NDA. Will this impact her ability to testify in the case?
It will not, because if you're ordered by a judge— let me start that over. If you receive a subpoena to testify, you have to show up to court. You have to tell the truth. Because that's your obligation pursuant to subpoena. So now, any nondisclosure agreement as a part of a settlement of civil case would not preclude that witness to testify against the defendant here. And also, let me just say this. It's extraordinary, but I'm not surprised at all that the federal judge denied bail for Combs. His defense lawyer offered up $50 million. Let me say that again. They offered $50 million bail. The judge said that ain't going to happen because I'm concerned about your history of anger and the fact that you are immensely rich and can flee the jurisdiction. So no bail for this defendant.
Manny, his attorneys are scheduled to argue that in court tomorrow, appeal for bail. What could be their argument at this point? I mean, beyond $50 million?
Well, you can always appeal an initial judge's order, Colleen, denying bail. But I've handled these bail review arguments And if the prosecution succeeded at this initial level, the defense now has to provide potentially other evidence that would militate in favor of bail. But it really works against the defendant that he is so immensely affluent and rich. But frankly, what is also very disconcerting to the judge who denied bail today is his history of anger issues. Let me remind you of that. Remember, there's this 2016 video, LA hotel, where you see Combs just horribly manhandling a woman who had refused to participate in one of those freak-offs. So yeah, the judge is very concerned about these anger issues. So I'm not surprised at all that there was no bail allowed for Combs.
All right, Manny Medrano, as always, thanks for your time.
