A judge in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex crimes case has ordered prosecutors to destroy their copies of Combs’ handwritten notes that were obtained during a recent jail search, pending a decision on whether they can be used in preparation for the rapper’s upcoming sex trafficking trial.
During a Tuesday hearing in Manhattan federal court, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian said prosecutors should not consult the notes while he considers the defense argument that they were subject to attorney-client privilege, a legal doctrine that safeguards confidential communications between lawyers and their clients.
“Get rid of them,” Subramanian told prosecutors, adding that he would keep a copy of the notes until he determines whether prosecutors have a right to use them to build their case. The judge said a separate team within the U.S. Attorney’s Office that is responsible for screening documents for attorney-client privilege could keep them.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment. USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Combs.
On Monday, lawyers for the embattled music mogul demanded a hearing focused on how prosecutors came into possession of what the defense described as Combs’ “privileged notes to his lawyers concerning defense witnesses and defense strategies.”
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The attorneys said that an Oct. 28 search of Combs’ jail cell violated his constitutional rights, and they characterized this as “outrageous” government conduct. On Tuesday, attorney Marc Agnifilo called the search a “complete institutional failure,” noting the alleged seizure of Combs’ notes infringed on his right to a fair trial and protections against self-incrimination and unreasonable searches and seizures.
US attorneys: Diddy’s jail cell was searched as part of ‘a larger safety and security initiative’
In response, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York told the judge in a Monday letter that investigators searched Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where Combs is incarcerated, as part of a “larger safety and security initiative” that was scheduled before the music mogul was arrested in September.
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According to prosecutors, a Bureau of Prisons investigator searched Combs’ cell and found a manila folder marked “legal,” a notebook, an address book and “personal effects.” The investigator took photographs of the notebook and address book and submitted them to a “filter team,” which approved making some photos available to prosecutors.
But the government said these photos, which show Combs’ “wide-ranging notes to himself, including notes related to the defendant’s business interests, his release of music, and family matters, among other things,” are not considered “privileged” materials in his legal defense.
‘Outrageous government conduct’:Diddy demands new hearing after jail search
Prosecutors also alleged Combs wrote about paying off potential witnesses and digging up dirt on them. They said that could amount to obstruction of justice, meaning attorney-client privilege should not apply. During Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutor Mary Slavik said they were still investigating the case and may bring more charges.
Combs has been incarcerated since September, when he was arrested for racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and denied all of the allegations of sexual assault against him.
In a filing on Friday, prosecutors argued Combs’ latest bail request should be denied, as he “poses a serious risk of obstruction, danger, and flight.” They also alleged Combs has “orchestrated social media campaigns that are, in his own words, aimed at tainting the jury pool” and “made efforts to publicly leak materials he views as helpful to his case.”
A hearing on Combs’ bail proposal is scheduled for Friday. Prosecutors on Tuesday agreed that Judge Subramanian should not consider the contents of Combs’ notes in deciding whether to release him.
Contributing: Jay Stahl and Edward Segarra, USA TODAY; Luc Cohen, Reuters
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