Sean “Diddy” Combs’ criminal trial will proceed with the May 5 start date, despite the request to delay the trial.
Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ request to delay his trial has been denied by a federal judge.
On Friday (April 18), Judge Arun Subramanian denied the two-month adjournment his legal counsel requested via a letter filed with the court on Wednesday (April 16). Judge Subramanian previously gave Combs’ legal counsel a 48-hour ultimatum to file the request, describing the proceedings leading up to the criminal trial as a “freight train.”
According to Fox News, Justin Combs and his mom and Diddy’s mother Janice Combs were in attendance at the hearing when the judge denied the request. Combs legal team will now have roughly three weeks to prepare their defense for the trial, which begins on May 5.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is back in court Friday ahead of his sex trafficking and racketeering trial. Legal contributor, @BrianGBuckmire, breaks down what to expect and how both sides plan to focus on evidence and witnesses. pic.twitter.com/JXQN5zbNf1
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) April 18, 2025
Combs’ legal team reportedly cites the need for the pause in the case as a means to provide “the necessary time to prepare” the defense for their client—who now faces a superseding third indictment he was charged with on April 3 and arraigned on weeks later on April 14. A
Combs’ legal team claims the delay is needed in order to sift through roughly 200,000 emails and other materials they say haven’t been handed over by federal prosecutors.
Diddy’s legal team claims they are also waiting for at least 3,500 evidentiary materials and a witness list. Not to mention, they are concerned about a new charge against Diddy, which carries a 15-year mandatory minimum charge.
The request also followed Combs’ legal team adding Young Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, to the roster ahead of his federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial in Manhattan next month.
Combs, who’s been in custody without bail since his September 2024 arrest, pleaded not guilty to two additional charges added earlier this month during his April 14 arraignment. He now faces five total counts, including racketeering, sex trafficking and transporting individuals for prostitution.
Watch the report above for additional details.
