Diddy’s avalanche of lawsuits may shake up his sex trafficking case

• Plaintiffs in 14 lawsuits call Sean Combs a rapist, including eight who sued in the past two weeks.
• Credible plaintiffs can help prosecutors win Combs’ criminal case, legal experts say.
• Combs’ side already paints the plaintiffs as financial opportunists who can’t be believed.

He sex trafficking accusation against Sean “Diddy” Combs names a single cooperating accuser, a long-time ex-girlfriend referred to only as “Victim-1.”

Legal experts believe she won’t be alone for long.

Plaintiffs in Combs’ growing number of sexual abuse lawsuits could soon join her, like “Victim-2,” “Victim-3” and beyond, in an updated accusationveteran New York defense attorneys predict.

“You can bet the U.S. Attorney’s Office is interviewing the attorneys, if not the clients themselves,” said attorney Michael Farkas, a former New York prosecutor.

While strong civil prosecutors—those who offer credible evidence, corroboration, and testimony—can help prosecutors win a criminal trial, their financial interest in the outcome of the case makes them vulnerable to cross-examination.

“If credible, they could constitute very powerful evidence against Mr. Combs, either as additional charges or as witnesses called to the stand to show a pattern,” Farkas said.

“But U.S. attorneys will proceed with caution in all of these interviews with plaintiffs, at least considering the possibility that these are claims of opportunity,” he said.

Defense attorneys have already noted that this will be a line of attack against “Victim-1.”

While she is not identified by name in court documents, her details in the indictment match those of a quickly settled $30 million lawsuit filed in November by Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura, the mogul’s longtime girlfriend. of rap.

Ventura’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, declined to comment for this story.

“There are 30 million reasons” to doubt his credibility, Combs’ attorney, Marc Agnifilo, told a judge during bail arguments last month. “One for every dollar demanded.”

Any dent in a witness’s credibility can hurt a case, said Stacey Richman, a Bronx attorney who has represented rappers such as Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and Ja Rule.

“If they believe that a witness has intentionally testified falsely about any material fact, jurors may disregard all of the witness’s testimony,” Richman said. “And if there’s enough momentum with multiple witnesses, it can destabilize the entire case.”

Farkas, Richman and other criminal defense attorneys with federal experience said BI prosecutors will be especially interested in the most serious of the two dozen civil lawsuits filed in the year since The Ventura lawsuit opened the floodgates of the Combs litigation.

So far, 11 women and three men allege they were raped by the music mogul after being beaten or drugged at parties he hosted in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Las Vegas over the past three decades. Nearly a dozen additional plaintiffs allege sexual abuse without using the word rape.

In a lawsuit filed this week, an Alabama Jane Doe said she was 13 years old when Combs and an unnamed “Celebrity A” raped her at a party after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.

The lawsuit was one of 13 cases. presented in the last two weeks by the Buzbee Law Firm in Houston. Founding attorney Tony Buzbee says he will file 120 in total.

“We expect to file cases weekly naming Mr. Combs and others as defendants as we continue to gather evidence and prepare filings,” he told BI.

Combs remains in a federal jail in Brooklyn while he appeals his denial of bail and awaits trial. His indictment alleges that he engaged in a decades-long pattern of physical and sexual violence, including during elaborate, multi-day sexual performances called “freak-offs.” He pleaded not guilty and his attorneys said the alleged conduct was consensual.

In court documents related to the criminal case, defense attorneys have used the words “false” and “absolutely absurd” when referring to the lawsuits’ allegations. Members of the defense team declined to comment for this story.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office also declined to comment.

The investigation will be rigorous

The background investigation of these potential plaintiffs-turned-federal witnesses will be rigorous, said Michael Bachner, a former New York prosecutor who was part of Combs’ defense team in 2001, during a gun and bribery trial in Manhattan that ended with Combs’ acquittal. rap mogul. .

“They will want to know if there is corroboration or proof.” Bachner said of federal prosecutors. “Many of these allegations are decades old. Are there hospital records? Is there an explanation for a 13-year-old girl going to a VMA party? Why was she alone?”

This investigation is already underway.

Federal prosecutors have been interviewing plaintiffs for months in a less-than-secret process, defense attorneys complained recently, asking Combs’ judge in Manhattan to gag potential witnesses and their attorneys.

Combs producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed a $30 million lawsuit in February alleging sexual assault and harassment, allegations that Combs has denied and is seeking to have them dismissed.

Last week, Tyrone Blackburn, Jones’ attorney, told a federal judge in Manhattan that he and his client had repeatedly met with prosecutors, and Jones drew a map of Combs’ home and shared photographs, according to Law 360.

Blackburn, which also represents Combs’ accuser Liza Gardnerdid not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Blackburn dropped Jones’ claims against UMG Recordings, Motown Records and Universal Music Group in May after lawyers for the music companies complained about inconsistencies in the lawsuit.

Another of Combs’ demands, presented in July by adult film actress Adria EnglishHe also found himself in legal trouble this month when his lawyers successfully asked to withdraw from the case, citing “irreconcilable differences” with English, according to court documents. The attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Experts said Combs’ defense attorneys will try to challenge the financial motives not only of the plaintiffs who take the stand in May but also of their attorneys.

In a motion requesting a gag order last week, the defense accused plaintiff attorneys of using “publicity stunts” tactics to get a “torrent of accusations“.

They singled out Buzbee for livestreaming a news conference last month in which anyone with complaints was advised to call a “1-800” number. The hotline received 12,000 calls in its first 24 hours, he told the New York Post.

“We will let the allegations contained in the complaints filed speak for themselves and work to see justice served,” Buzbee told BI this week.