Sean "Diddy" Combs is intensifying his push to overturn his conviction on Mann Act charges, telling a federal judge that prosecutors misapplied the law by relying on a modern definition of prostitution.
In court filings this week, the music mogul's attorneys argued that the Mann Act - enacted in 1910 and originally known as the White Slave Traffic Act - should be interpreted in line with the historical context of the period. Diddy claimed that in 1910 "a prostitute was a woman who had sex outside marriage." His lawyers said prosecutors, by contrast, used the current definition of prostitution as sex-for-hire to secure the conviction.
The filings ask Judge Arun Subramanian either to acquit Combs of the Mann Act charges or grant him a new trial. Combs was acquitted in July of racketeering and sex-trafficking charges but convicted on two counts of transporting people for the purposes of prostitution. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 3.
Defense lawyers also asserted that prosecutors did not prove their case. They argued the government failed to establish that Combs paid male escorts to engage in sex with his girlfriends, saying instead the men were compensated for their time. The filings reiterated Combs's position that he was merely a voyeur, which he maintains was legal.
The challenge comes as former associates continue to speak publicly about their concerns. Aubrey O'Day, formerly of the Bad Boy Entertainment group Danity Kane, told Decider that she armed herself with a butcher knife after years of warning about Combs's alleged conduct. "I've been warning everyone for about twenty years now that this is not a safe person to work with," she said, adding that she had feared "physical danger" after speaking out.
At Combs's trial earlier this year, he was convicted on the Mann Act counts but faced broader testimony about alleged domestic violence and sexual assault, some of which is still the subject of ongoing civil litigation. O'Day alleged that she noticed "unmarked cars" outside her home after challenging the producer publicly. "Clearly, there were things moving and shaking on all sides, but I've been aware multiple times in the past couple years that physical danger is a real thing," she said.
Federal prosecutors, who opposed Combs's earlier motion to vacate the conviction, have not yet filed their response to the latest arguments. The Justice Department previously declined to comment on his defense team's notice of intent to sue.
