NEW YORK– NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs is about to make his first appearance before the judge expected to preside over the hip-hop powerbroker trial on sex trafficking charges.
Combs will be taken from a Brooklyn jail to Manhattan federal court for an appearance Thursday afternoon before Judge Arun Subramanian.
The hearing is expected to result in deadlines being set for attorneys for both sides to file arguments that will set the boundaries for a trial that Combs’ attorneys plan to begin in April or May. Prosecutors have not expressed a preference for when the trial could take place.
The judge was assigned to the case after another judge recused himself based on his previous contacts with attorneys in the case.
Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty in costs filed against him last month. These charges include racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, based on allegations dating back to 2008.
An indictment claims that Combs coerced and abused women for years with the help of a network of associates and associates, while victims were silenced through blackmail and violent acts, including kidnapping, arson and physical abuse.
His lawyers have been trying unsuccessfully to get the Bad Boy Records founder released on bail since his arrest on September 16.
Two judges have concluded that Combs is a danger to the community if released. At a bail hearing three weeks ago, a judge rejected a $50 million bail package that included home detention and electronic monitoring after concluding that Combs posed a threat to tamper with witnesses and obstruct an ongoing investigation.
In an appeal of the bail rulings to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Combs’ attorneys on Tuesday asked a panel of judges to reverse the bail findings. They said the proposed bail package would “clearly prevent him from posing a danger to anyone or contacting any witnesses.”
They urged the appeals court to reject the findings of a lower judge, who they said had “endorsed the government’s exaggerated rhetoric and ordered Mr. Combs’ arrest.”