By Luc Cohen and Jack Queen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Sean "Diddy" Combs' "commercial voyeurism" does not qualify as prostitution, his defense lawyer argued on Thursday in urging a judge to set aside a jury's verdict finding the hip-hop mogul guilty on prostitution charges.
Combs, 55, faces up to 20 years in prison if the July 2 conviction stands. Jurors found he paid male escorts to travel across state lines to have sex with his girlfriends while he filmed and masturbated, but cleared him of more serious counts of sex trafficking and racketeering.
He had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, which could have landed him in prison for life.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who is overseeing the case, did not rule on Combs' motion at Thursday's hearing, but said he would issue a decision "very soon."
At the hearing, defense lawyer Alexandra Shapiro characterized Combs' conduct during days-long, drug-fueled sex marathons sometimes known as Freak Offs as "commercial voyeurism."
She said the law criminalizing transportation to engage in prostitution should be applied only to people who themselves took part in sexual activity, or to people making money off the prostitutes.
"The statute should be construed narrowly essentially to only apply to pimping," Shapiro said.
Meredith Foster, a prosecutor with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office, said Combs need not have personally taken part in the sex acts to be convicted, since he helped arrange for the male escorts to travel.
TRIAL CENTERED ON FREAK OFFS
Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, is credited with elevating hip-hop in American culture. He was arrested on sex trafficking charges on September 16, 2024, and has since been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
As he entered Subramanian's courtroom , Combs smiled, hugged his lawyers, and waved at his family seated in the audience.
During his two-month trial earlier this year, prosecutors said he coerced two former girlfriends into the sexual performances.
Both women - rhythm and blues singer Casandra Ventura, known as Cassie, and a woman known by the pseudonym Jane - testified that Combs physically attacked them and threatened to cut off financial support if they refused to participate in the sex performances.
Combs' lawyers acknowledged the physical attacks, but argued there was no direct link between what they called domestic violence and the women's participation in the Freak Offs.
They also said Ventura and Jane consented to the encounters because they loved Combs and wanted to make him happy.
At Thursday's hearing, Shapiro said the government should not be criminalizing sexual activity between consenting adults.
"What we're left with is a case about adults who traveled interstate and participated in a threesome," she said.
Christy Slavik, a prosecutor, said the evidence at trial showed there were "secondary effects" of prostitution even though the conduct took place behind closed doors.
"Ms. Ventura was getting punched in the face. Jane was getting hit and kicked. The defendant was providing drugs to all parties," Slavik said.
COMBS SEEKS SHORT SENTENCE
Combs is scheduled to be sentenced on October 3, should Subramanian uphold his conviction.
In a court filing earlier this week, his lawyers suggested a 14-month sentence. That would see him released soon, as he would be credited for the time he has already spent in jail.
Prosecutors are due to file their own sentencing recommendation on September 29.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Bill Berkrot and Nick Zieminski)
