A federal judge on Tuesday ordered prosecutors not to use documents taken from Sean “Daddy” Combs’ cell until he rules on the defense’s claim that they are trial preparation materials protected by attorney-client privilege. .
Judge Arun Subramanian His ruling came during a hearing in Manhattan federal court after lawyers fiercely disputed the circumstances and relevance of the seizure of 19 pages filmed by an investigator inside the music mogul’s cell.
Combs, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, is accused of coercing and abusing women for years with the help of a network of colleagues and employees.
The seizure occurred during a multi-day government sweep of all cells at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to remove any weapons or contraband as an anti-violence measure.
defense lawyer Mark Agnifilo He said he could ask a judge to dismiss the indictment or force prosecutors to recuse themselves if they rule the materials were improperly obtained and used.
Combs hugged his attorney when he first entered the courtroom and was led away at the end of the hearing with a stack of documents.
Agnifilo said he didn’t know documents in Coombs’ cell had been photographed by a Bureau of Prisons investigator and turned over to prosecutors until he saw them in his fight against Coombs’ $50 million bail offer cited in written arguments. A bail hearing is scheduled for Friday.
He said prosecutors referred to the documents twice as they argued that Combs had continued to commit crimes since his arrest in September.
Prosecutors said Combs orchestrated a social media campaign aimed at tainting the jury pool, seeking to publicly leak material he believed would be helpful to the case and contacting potential witnesses through third parties.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Slavik It said the seized materials were carefully reviewed by independent government attorneys, who are isolated from prosecutors, to determine whether they are protected by the attorney-client privilege.
She said they were not discussed with defense attorneys because some were believed to be related to the secretive and ongoing investigation into Combs.
Slavik also said prosecutors had no prior contact with prison officials or any instructions to Coombs’ cell.
Slavik said some of the captured pages contained to-do lists, inspirational quotes and comments about birthdays, while two excerpts involved Combs paying and seeking damaging material about potential witnesses.
However, Agnifilo said even matters seemingly unrelated to the case are protected by attorney-client privilege. For example, he said attorneys have discussed with Coombs potential witnesses they might call.
Agnifilo said “everything” in the seized documents is subject to attorney-client privilege because Combs discussed it with his attorneys.
“The government now knows potential defense witnesses for the May 5 trial,” he added. “This is a complete failure of government.”
The judge asked both sides to submit written arguments in the coming weeks.
This story was originally published by The Associated Press.
