Diddy Likely to Get Indicted

Celebrity lawyer Christopher C. Melcher, who is ranked as a best family law attorney in California, explains why Diddy is likely to get indicted on Court TV.

Reporter: There were rumblings about Diddy’s bad behavior for years. Simultaneous raids a massive show of force. A stunning downfall.

Multiple lawsuits filed against Sean Combs accused the music mogul of sex trafficking. Federal authorities raided his home in Los Angeles and Miami during their investigation into these claims. According to this latest lawsuit, due to these numerous lawsuits filed against the defendant Combs alleging same or similar acts, there is now growing awareness that defendant Combs was engaging in far more sinister acts than previously known, including physical abuse and sex trafficking. Specifically from 2004 to 2009, plaintiff claims that she was sex trafficked by defendant Combs. Plaintiff says that she can support her allegations within this complaint and has lived her adult life with the memories of being trapped in a cycle of sex trafficking, that she never asked to be a part of this, she was chosen because defendant Combs knew he could groom her.

For years, plaintiff has been affected by defendant’s action and has suffered extreme emotional distress impacting nearly every aspect of plaintiff’s life and personal relationships. Given all the brave individuals who have come forward against defendant Combs, plaintiff is doing the same. Still with us to talk about the latest allegations and where things are going in this case, Steve Greenberg and Chris Melcher are with us, both criminal defense attorneys, and we’re talking about, Chris and Steve, the designation of sex trafficking. Throughout this civil lawsuit we see those terms. It gets explicit. It says that she feels as if she was a sex slave. Chris, is a partner of Walzer Melcher Yoda LLP, which is ranked as a best family law firm-let me start with you because this is a civil lawsuit, but it feels like it’s a criminal one.

Diddy’s Civil Lawsuit Explained

Chris Melcher: Well, that’s right. I mean these are obviously heinous acts that are being alleged and she’s looking for money and that’s what would happen if she prevailed or the other plaintiffs prevailed in this and this would be separate from the criminal investigation. So again, with the amount of attention that’s on him right now and the delay that she had in filing this suit, I got to imagine she or her representatives approached the other side for settlement and I assumed that there was nothing offered or not enough, but this is really an unlike the Cassie Ventura case that did settle quickly, I do see this being different.

Reporter:

Steve, do you think the federal investigators are reaching out to these who are filing the lawsuits or do you think they’ve already been in contact with them? Do you think there’s any connection there between the raid and just as they build their case, which we understand is happening behind the scenes?

Diddy Likely To Get Indicted

Steve Greenburg: Well, I think he’s going to get indicted here. I think there’s no doubt he’s going to get indicted. I think that’s where he should be worried, that he’s going to get indicted. They’re investigating him in the Southern District of New York. They’re going to do the same thing they did before. They’re going to take a bunch of little petty charges, you see in this lawsuit, she makes reference to state statutes and they’re going to take federal statutes like the RICO Act where they can use state laws and they’re going to make a federal case and build it on that. There’s no question that P. Diddy is going to face very serious federal charges as a result of what he’s been doing over the years. These women who very well may have been voluntarily participating in a lifestyle are now going to claim that they were his sex slaves, that he was trafficking them, and if a jury believes them, he is going to have big problems.

Diddy’s Case Filed In New York

Reporter:

Steve, as a follow-up, why do you think this is filed in New York? We saw your former client R. Kelly, his case even though many of the incidents that were alleged and that he was convicted on happened Chicago and Florida and California, but he was charged in New York. What is it about New York?

Steve Greenburg:

I think that the US attorney’s office in New York is taking a very aggressive stand. What they did in the R. Kelly case was that they filed a RICO action, but they used the Mann Act. So the Mann Act is a law that says that it’s a federal crime if you cross state lines for sexual purposes, and they took misdemeanor states, very complicated, but they took misdemeanor state criminal Acts and sort of federalized them by using the Mann Act and then use the Mann Act, which is a predicate Act for a RICO crime. So they sort of took a misdemeanor and made a federal case out of it, and they’re the only ones who have done this anywhere in the country. The New York prosecutors just in the eastern district and in the southern district have been very aggressive on these cases. It’s just the way they’ve operated. I don’t know why. You would think Miami or California, where the houses are located is where the investigations would be going on, but from everything I’ve seen, the investigation is in New York City.