Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs say they need an additional two months to prepare for the music mogul’s sex trafficking trial and they’ve put the request in writing.
In a letter to the court on Wednesday, April 16, the defense appealed to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian for more time as prosecutors pile on more charges, according to court documents obtained by Urban Hollywood 411.
Earlier this week, the mogul’s legal team floated the idea of a two-week delay to the start of his May 5 trial. At the time, Judge Subramanian gave the defense 48 hours to file a motion, but issued a warning that the case was moving like “a freight train” after the defense requested a speedy trial.
In Wednesday’s motion, the defense said Combs needs more than an additional two weeks, and urged the court to grant him the “necessary time to prepare his defense of the third superseding indictment.”
His lawyers argued, “This is a problem that the government has created, yet it opposes our reasonable request.”
Related: Alleged Diddy Victims Face ‘Harassment’ If Witness List Is Released, Prosecutors Say
Now that the defense has requested two more months, the judge will rule on the motion at a hearing this Friday.
The mogul’s attorneys noted that they are continuing to receive new evidence, including some “as recently as last night.”
The defense also said prosecutors have been slow to turn over key evidence, such as its witness list, which was due today.
Wednesday’s letter was signed by attorneys Marc Agnifilo, Teny Geragos, Alexandra Shapiro, Jason Driscoll, and Anna Estevao.
Prosecutors filed the third superseding indictment against Combs on April 3, adding two additional charges.
The new counts are — sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. These latest charges bring the total to five counts the mogul is facing.
Diddy pleaded not guilty to the new charges at a pre-trial hearing on Monday, April 14.
The Bad Boy Records founder was arrested in September 2024, and charged in a 14-page indictment with racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking; and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty to all three counts.
Prosecutors added the first superseding indictment on Jan. 30. There were no additional charges, but it did add two more alleged victims to the transportation to engage in prostitution count.
On March 6, prosecutors filed a second superseding indictment, which included a “forced labor” allegation but no new charges.
Diddy appeared in court days later and pleaded not guilty to the allegation that he demanded some employees “work long hours with little sleep” or potentially face “physical force.”
The mogul has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York since his arrest, after being denied bail by three different judges.
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