Sean “Diddy” Combs was acquitted of the most serious charges against him, and legal experts think the sentence on the two remaining charges is unlikely to be particularly severe. However, that’s not stopping Diddy from fighting those remaining charges. His lawyers have appealed those convictions, and a large part of the argument falls on the definition of the word “prostitution.”
Diddy was found guilty of two counts of violating the Mann Act, which deals with transporting people for the purposes of prostitution. His lawyers are now arguing that what he did was not technically prostitution, as they think the court is using the wrong definition of the word.
Diddy’s Lawyers Argue He Did Not Engage In Prostitution
TMZ has obtained the court documents filed by Diddy’s team. They reportedly show that part of the legal argument is that the trial used a modern version of the word “prostitution,” and, since the Mann Act was originally passed in 1910, the court should use the definition of the term then, not now. At the time, prostitution referred to women having sex outside of marriage, and the people Diddy was convicted of transporting were men.
The Mann Act has been amended and modified multiple times since its original passage, but it’s certainly possible that a judge interpreting the law strictly might ultimately agree. Diddy’s lawyers are asking for the judge to overturn the convictions, or at the very least, for Diddy to get a new trial on those counts.
Diddy Claims He Was Engaged In Amateur Porn, Not Prostitution
The 1910 definition of prostitution isn’t the only thing Diddy’s lawyers are hanging the appeal on. The filing also argues that Diddy didn’t necessarily violate the modern definition of prostitution either. It claims he never had sex with the sex workers that were transported; instead, he was watching and occasionally recording the acts. Diddy's then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, testified that he only ever watched her have sex with others. It’s also stated that nobody was technically paid to have sex. Instead, they were paid for their time.
It’s also stated that Diddy never profited in any way from the sex. The recordings that he made were simply “amateur pornography” meant for his personal use, and thus did not qualify as prostitution. Diddy’s team is arguing that he is the first person to be convicted under the Mann Act for this particular set of circumstances. If that’s true, and depending on the exact wording of the law, the judge might find the law shouldn’t apply in this case.
Diddy is scheduled to be sentenced next month. We should therefore expect a ruling on the appeal before then, unless we see the sentencing pushed back. Additional appeals in the court system are expected if this one does not work, and there's always the possibility, however remote, of a Presidential pardon. Diddy has remained in jail awaiting sentencing.
