The upcoming sex trafficking trial for Sean “Diddy” Combs is slated to take place next week, and the court maneuvering is in full swing. Diddy’s legal team has requested that a gag order be placed on the attorneys representing victims in the matter ahead of the trial.
In an exclusive report, the British publication Daily Mail reports that Diddy’s legal team is asking a judge to issue a gag order on the attorneys representing the mogul’s alleged victims. The publication says that the request singled out Douglas Wigdor, who is representing Combs’ ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. They hope that the attorneys can’t issue statements that might damage the moves of the defense and keep the case out of the public limelight.
“Absent a Court order, we expect the publicity to not only continue, but escalate as trial commences,” a portion of the letter the team handed over to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian. “Indeed in recent weeks, lawyers for government witnesses have commented on pretrial litigation and continued to broadcast prejudicial statements.”
Combs’ team floated a claim that a video of their client physically assaulting Ventura that was shared on CNN may have been altered. The network denies performing any edits to the clips.
Wigdor has responded to the legal maneuver and provided a statement for the Daily Mail.
“We will vigorously oppose the motion seeking an extraordinary sweeping gag order as it is an obvious attempt at controlling and silencing victims and their counsel in contravention of well-established legal and ethical precedent,” Wigdor said. “Given this, it should come as no surprise that Combs fails to cite even one case to support his request.”
Diddy’s trial is set to take place on May 5.
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