Sean ‘Diddy' Combs had First Amendment right to film twisted ‘freak-offs,' lawyers say
The jailed rap tycoon made the head-scratching claim as part of his bid to toss his July prostitution conviction for setting up baby-oil-fueled 'freak-offs' with gigalos who traveled across state lines.
'Mr. Combs's amateur porn, like many other adult films, was creative, intricate, and highly choreographed,' Combs' lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, wrote in a court filing late Wednesday night.
3 Sean Combs says he has a First Amendment right to film his 'freak-off' sessions with male escorts.
ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA
Upholding Combs' conviction would thus breach his freedom of speech rights because the sex tapes have 'expressive content and are protected by the First Amendment,' the attorney added.
Jurors at Combs' salacious two-month-long trial heard evidence that the admitted woman beater used the threat of releasing ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura's sex tapes to keep Ventura under his thumb.
'I feared for my career. I feared for my family. It's just embarrassing. It's horrible and disgusting. No one should do that to anyone,' Ventura testified.
The court also heard accounts of Combs repeatedly beating Ventura, and forcing another lover, 'Jane,' to have sex with an escort hours after kicking, choking and punching her in a brutal assault.
3 Combs faces up to 10 years in prison on two prostitution counts at his October sentencing.
Marlon Reid / MEGA
'Is this coercion?' Combs chillingly asked 'Jane' — who testified using an alias — before ordering her to perform oral sex on the male sex worker, the woman told jurors.
But the jury nonetheless acquitted Combs of charges of coercing Ventura and 'Jane' into the sex acts after his lawyers cited explicit texts the women sent him before and after the sexual encounters.
Combs, 55, now faces up to 10 years in prison on two counts of breaking the Mann Act, a federal law making it a crime to transport someone across state lines for prostitution.
Judge Arun Subramanian has cited the 'I'll Be Missing U' rapper's admitted violence toward his exes in ordering Combs to stay at a hellish Brooklyn lockup until his Oct. 3 sentencing date.
3 Combs' lawyers claimed at his Manhattan trial that he was guilty of domestic violence, but not sex trafficking.
REUTERS
Combs' lawyers successfully claimed at trial that he was guilty of domestic violence, but not the sex trafficking and racketeering raps that the feds had charged him with.
'Domestic violence is the issue. 'We own it,' defense attorney Marc Agnifilo told jurors.
Wednesday's filing is Combs' lawyers' bid to get Subramanian to toss the jury verdict himself.
Trial judges rarely take such a drastic step. But the rapper will likely revisit the argument after his sentencing, when he's set to lobby the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn his conviction.
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