by
Shareif
Ziyadat/Getty
Images)
Sean
“Diddy”
Combs
was
sentenced
to
50
months
in
prison
last
year.
This
was
a
major
victory
considering
that
many
thought
he
was
going
away
for
a
very
long
time,
but
his
lawyers
are
arguing
that
even
the
50
months
is
too
much.
Since
the
sentencing,
his
legal
team
has
appealed
on
several
grounds.
Post
sentencing,
they
argued
that
Combs
wasn’t
engaging
in
prostitution;
rather,
he
was
just
a
constitutionally
protected
amateur
pornographer.
As
interesting
as
that
attempt
at
reclassification
is,
a
novel
legal
question
posed
to
the
Second
Circuit
could
be
the
strategy
that
sticks.
Complex
has
coverage:
At
the
center
of
Thursday’s
argument
was
the
issue
of
whether
Judge
Subramanian
considered
acquitted
conduct
when
sentencing
Diddy.
Almost
all
of
the
mogul’s
legal
team
for
his
seven-week
trial
was
on
hand,
including
Brian
Steel,
Marc
Agnifilo,
and
Nicole
Westmoreland.
Several
members
of
Diddy’s
friends
and
family
were
also
there,
though
the
mogul
himself,
his
mother,
and
his
children
were
absent.Alexandra
Shapiro’s
primary
argument
was
that,
because
her
client
was
acquitted
of
sex
trafficking
charges
—
and
thus
the
jury
didn’t
find
Diddy
guilty
of
having
used
force,
fraud,
or
coercion
to
get
Cassie
Ventura
and
the
pseudonymous
Jane
Doe
to
participate
in
the
freak-offs
—
Judge
Subramanian
had
erred
when
he’d
added
an
enhancement
for
coercion
to
the
mogul’s
sentencing
guidelines.
In
response,
the
prosecution
argued
that
the
enhancements
didn’t
come
from
characterizations
of
acquitted
behavior,
but
from
behaviors
Diddy
admitted
to
at
trial.
Judge
Subramanian
also
mentioned
that
they’d
have
given
Combs
the
same
50
months
without
factoring
in
any
enhancements,
but
just
saying
you
didn’t
do
a
thing
isn’t
enough
to
rule
out
that
you
did.
This
case
gets
more
interesting
with
time.
This
is
the
part
where
we
would
promise
to
keep
you
up
to
date
on
the
court
proceedings,
but
no
journalistic
endeavors
can
hold
a
candle
to
the
pettiness
of
Curtis
“50
Cent”
Jackson.
If
the
ruling
doesn’t
come
down
in
Combs’s
favor,
he
will
be
the
first
one
to
tell
you.
Diddy
Appeals
Hearing:
Lawyers
Argue
for
Freedom,
Judge
Calls
It
an
‘Exceptionally
Difficult
Case’
[Complex]
Earlier:
Diddy
Did…Some
Of
It
Diddy
‘Freakoff’
Case
Takes
Unexpected
Constitutional
Turn
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boat
builder
who
is
learning
to
swim
and
is
interested
in
rhetoric,
Spinozists
and
humor.
Getting
back
in
to
cycling
wouldn’t
hurt
either.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at
[email protected]
and
by
Tweet/Bluesky
at @WritesForRent.