A federal judge denied Diddy’s defense attorney’s new request for a mistrial over alleged prosecutorial misconduct.
The hip-hop mogul’s attorneys filed a second motion for a mistrial this week over alleged “prosecutorial misconduct.” The defense team’s motion argued that prosecutors presented evidence in the trial that they knew to be false. This is over allegations that the defendant, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, “dangled Bryana Bongolan from the balcony of Cassie Ventura’s apartment in September 2016.”
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“Accordingly, to avoid an unfair conviction in this case the Court should grant a mistrial,” the motion reads. “The government knew or should have known this testimony was perjured, and that Ms. Bongolan could not possibly have been injured by Mr. Combs on a Los Angeles balcony in the early morning hours of September 26, or even the day before that.”
Bryana Bongolan, a friend of Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, testified last week that the billionaire music mogul stormed into Cassie’s 17th apartment in Los Angeles and dangled her over the balcony. She claimed that he then slammed her into furniture, causing injuries and emotional distress. Bongolan previously sued Diddy over the allegations.
During her cross-examination, defense attorneys grilled her about the alleged incident, seeking to cast doubts about her story. According to Diddy’s attorney, the prosecution has evidence putting Diddy on the East Coast.
“The government has long known that Mr. Combs was on the East Coast in late September, and specifically at around the time of this alleged incident,” the motion reads. “And it has had other evidence in its possession for some time showing Mr. Combs’s travel schedule and proving that he was on the East Coast when it told the jury he dangled Ms. Bongolan over a balcony in front of Ms. Ventura.”
Diddy’s attorney also cast doubts over Cassie’s testimony that she saw the Bad Boy Records founder dangle Ms. Bongolan over the balcony.
The judge denied the motion for a mistrial, telling the defense a flat no. Judge Arun Subramanian argued that he did not believe that the jury was prejudiced.
Diddy is currently on trial in New York for crimes including sex trafficking and racketeering. If convicted, he faces decades in prison.
The trial is now in day 20. The trial resumes on Wednesday in New York.