The defence team representing jailed music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs returned to a New York courtroom on Thursday 25 September, to make a final effort to overturn his prostitution convictions, asking that they either be vacated ahead of his sentencing, or a new trial be granted.

The rapper and producer has been in federal custody since his arrest in September 2024 and faces the possibility of being sentenced to up to 10 years inside; but his legal advisors have proposed that he serves no more than 14 months, meaning that he would have already completed most of his sentence.

They argue his convictions were a misuse of the Mann Act, calling his case “unprecedented” and the use of the 1910 law – that was passed to combat human trafficking and sexual exploitation of women – was totally unjust. 

In the hearing, defence attorney Alexandra Shapiro portrayed the 55-year-old as nothing more than a voyeur, who enjoyed producing and then watching amateur pornography, and insisted that it was nothing more than private sexual activities between consenting adults, which he said was protected by the First Amendment.

Mr Combs arrived in the courtroom in Manhattan from his Brooklyn jail, accompanied by members of the U.S. Marshals Service and looked on as the defence and prosecution sparred with each other for around 80 minutes. 

Prosecutors asserted that the accused was a clear-cut violator of the Mann Act, who used violence against the women involved and “plied” them with drugs to ensure their continued participation in the sex marathons – which during all the proceedings of the case it has been established are much better known as “freak-off’s”.

In his defence, Combs’ lawyers put it that his convictions are “an outlier in the scope of modern-day prosecutions under the Mann Act,” which is often used against pimps who benefit financially from transporting prostitutes.

The Mann Act – which was initially referred to as the “White-Slave Traffic Act” – essentially prohibits the transportation of individuals across state lines for illegal sex acts or prostitution. 

In its early days, the Mann Act was used by federal prosecutors as a way to criminalise some forms of consensual activity, including interracial relationships. Combs’ lawyers argue that their representative is being unfairly persecuted because of his race.

They have labelled him a “humbled man” who got sober for the first time in 25 years while in the Metropolitan Detention Center that often houses high-profile inmates, adding that he has developed an educational program that has “inspired” others. 

Judge Arun Subramanian adjourned the hearing, but if the court declines to grant an acquittal, his attorneys argue that a new trial is required due to “severe spillover prejudice from reams of inflammatory evidence”.

The government will issue its formal sentencing recommendation on 3 October.