Sean Combs, widely known as Diddy, has filed a fresh appeal challenging both his conviction and sentence, with his legal team accusing the trial judge of overstepping his role during sentencing.
In court documents filed late Tuesday, Diddy’s lawyers urged an appellate court to overturn his conviction and order his release from prison, or, alternatively, to reduce his 50-month sentence. While the defence has lodged several appeals since his sentencing, the latest filing focuses specifically on the conduct of the presiding judge, Arun Subramanian, whom they accuse of acting as a “thirteenth juror” in the case.
According to the appeal, lead counsel Alexandra Shapiro argued that the judge imposed what she described as a “draconian” sentence by relying on allegations for which the jury had acquitted Diddy, including racketeering and s3x trafficking charges.
The filing claims Judge Subramanian improperly stated during sentencing that he could consider conduct connected to the more serious and violent charges, despite the jury’s not-guilty verdicts on those counts. Shapiro argued that doing so amounted to a violation of Diddy’s constitutional rights.
Diddy’s legal team maintains that his sentence should be based solely on the two counts for which he was convicted, violations of the Mann Act relating to the transportation of individuals for the purpose of prostitution.
In earlier appeals, the defence also contended that Diddy did not personally arrange travel or make payments for male s3x workers, and therefore did not violate the Mann Act as alleged by prosecutors.
Federal prosecutors are expected to file their response within the next two months, after which the case will be considered by the appellate court.