Lawyers representing Diddy have argued that his sex trafficking case could be dismissed due to alleged “prosecutorial errors” during a recent search of his prison cell.
Attorney Marc Agnifilo accused prosecutors of a “complete institutional failure” that may have compromised the case during an emergency court hearing in New York on Tuesday.
The defense team alleged that Diddy’s constitutional rights were violated last month when federal investigators seized 19 pages of his notes during a cell sweep and shared them with the prosecution.
Agnifilo stated that the confiscated material included Diddy’s handwritten notes to his legal team regarding defense strategies for his upcoming trial.
The court was informed that investigators also seized a “Things to Do” list, which included instructions to a family member to “find dirt” on two alleged victims, along with pages containing “inspirational” quotes Diddy wrote for himself.
Agnifilo described the pre-planned cell sweep as a “pretext” for a prison investigator to single out Diddy—whose real name is Sean Combs.
The defense suggested possible remedies, including the “dismissal of the indictment” or the removal of the current prosecution team.
“We don’t know enough to say which is the reasonable remedy,” Agnifilo told the court.
Judge Arun Subramanian ordered the prosecution to delete all copies of the seized documents for the time being.
The emergency hearing followed the defense’s submission of court documents revealing they only discovered prosecutors had the privileged material from the October 28 raid last Friday.
Diddy has remained in custody while awaiting trial on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
He was arrested on September 17 and is scheduled to go on trial next May. Diddy has denied all charges.
Agnifilo told the court that the defense team is investigating the incident to assess its seriousness.