Sean “Diddy” Combs has requested that the video footage that showed him brutally beating his ex-girlfriend Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura” be excluded from evidence ahead of his trial.
“Mr. Combs seeks to exclude all available video files related to an incident from March 5, 2016, in the Intercontinental Hotel,” his lawyers wrote on his behalf in a 15-page motion that was submitted to the U.S. Southern District Court of New York on Thursday.
Combs’ team claims the footage, which was released by CNN in May 2024, has been tampered with and thus wants it removed.
“There is no longer any dispute that the CNN footage from March 5, 2016, at the Intercontinental Hotel, offered by the government at three separate bail hearings, is wholly inaccurate, having been altered, manipulated, sped-up and edited to be out of sequence,” the legal document states. “As indicated below, CNN paid [redacted] for footage, copied that footage in unknown ways, presented that footage out of order and destroyed the original. Accordingly, all the footage from CNN is inaccurate and inadmissible as well.”
The motion added that the clips in question are an “edited, manipulated version of hotel surveillance footage,” “two cellphone video recordings of surveillance video footage taken by [redacted]” and four video files “provided by CNN in response to a defense subpoena.”
In addition, Combs’ team requested a pre-trial hearing for the disgraced rapper to “present testimony and video evidence” from a forensic video analyst named Conor McCourt, “so that the court can better understand the ways in which each of the available videos are unreliable and not a fair and accurate reflection of the actions depicted.”
If the judge approves, Combs’ team wants McCourt to provide a “visual demonstration of the inaccuracies,” adding that they feel “unreliable video files would unfairly confuse and mislead the jury at Mr. Combs’ expense.”
In the clip, Ventura is seen walking down a hotel hallway with bags in her hand toward the hotel elevator. Combs then appears and runs after Ventura wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Once he reaches her, he grabs her by her neck and head and throws her to the ground. He then kicks her twice before dragging her back toward the hotel room.
Two days after the video hit the Internet, Combs took to Instagram to issue an apology.
“My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video,” Combs said at the time. “I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now … I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”
Combs has pleaded not guilty to five federal counts, including racketeering and sex trafficking. He is scheduled to head to trial next month, though his attorneys have requested a two-month delay as they work through disputes related to evidence, per ABC News.
Source: The Wrap / Digpu NewsTex