Overview

• At a Sept. 25 hearing in Manhattan, the defense argued the jury erred because Combs engaged in 'commercial voyeurism' and filmed private 'amateur pornography' protected by the First Amendment.
• Prosecutors said the statute does not require him to take part in sex acts since he arranged interstate travel for paid escorts, and they alleged coercion, drug use, and use of tapes as leverage.
• Judge Arun Subramanian did not rule from the bench and asked lawyers to address whether the First Amendment argument should have been raised earlier.
• Sentencing remains scheduled for Oct. 3 if the verdict stands, with the defense seeking a 14-month, time-served sentence and prosecutors set to file their recommendation on Sept. 29.
• Combs has been detained at MDC Brooklyn since his Sept. 2024 arrest; a July 2 verdict convicted him on two transportation-for-prostitution counts and acquitted him of sex trafficking and racketeering.