Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs can’t wait to testify in his upcoming trial, according to his lawyer.
Marc Agnifilo, a former Manhattan Assistant District Attorney, gave TMZ a glimpse into how Diddy’s trial might play out as part of the outlet’s upcoming documentary on the case.
‘I don’t know that I could keep him off the stand. I think he is very eager to tell his story. And I think he will tell every part of his story,’ Agnifilo said.
Agnifilo is speaking out roughly a week after Diddy was indicted in New York and charged with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Diddy, 54, pleaded not guilty to all three charges and was denied bail. The judge who will preside over his case agreed with prosecutors that he was a serious flight risk and that he posed a danger to others.
Criminal defendants have the right under the fifth amendment not to testify so as not to further incriminate themselves. They also have the right to testify, even if it goes against their lawyer’s advice.
When any witness takes the stand in a trial, the opposing team of counsel, whether it be the prosecution or the defense, has the opportunity to cross-examine them and poke holes in their story.
Based on what Agnifilo is saying though, it appears Diddy believes a jury ought to hear his version of events, despite the risks.
‘He has his story, and he has a story that I think only he can tell in the way he can tell it, in real time,’ he said. ‘It’s a human story. It’s a story of love. It’s a story of hurt. It’s a story of heartbreak.’
This comes as Agnifilo explained the supposed reason behind the ‘1,000 bottles’ of baby oil and lubricant authorities found in Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles.
‘I don’t think it was 1,000. I think it was a lot. I mean, there is a Costco right down the street. I think Americans buy in bulk, as we know,’ he told the New York Post.
Agnifilo said step one is to address what happened in the infamous video showing Diddy beating then-girlfriend Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel back in 2016.
‘I expect it’s going to be explained by the both of us,’ he said. ‘When he describes that relationship, the word he uses more than any other word is heartbreak. He was heartbroken. She was heartbroken.’
Cassie, full name Casandra Ventura, sued Diddy last year, alleging he raped her and physically abused her over the course of 10 years.
The lawsuit was settled just a day later for an undisclosed amount.
Diddy has already given the world a sneak peak at how he might defend himself from prosecutors’ questions about the beatdown, since he publicly addressed the controversy after CNN leaked the disturbing surveillance video in May.
At the time, the music mogul took to Instagram to apologize, saying: ‘I hit rock bottom, but I make no excuses.’
Looking into the camera, Diddy said: ‘So difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, sometimes you got to do that. I was f***ed up.’
‘My behavior in that video is inexcusable,’ he continued. ‘I take full responsibility for my actions in that video, I’m disgusted.’
He went on to say that he sought professional help through therapy and rehab after the assault.
But that’s not all he’ll have to explain if he decides to take the stand.
Prosecutors with the Southern District of New York accuse Diddy of orchestrating elaborate, often dayslong sex performances he called ‘freak-offs,’ where he allegedly forced his victims to have sex with male prostitutes.
According to the indictment, Diddy masturbated during freak-offs and gained the compliance of his victims by giving them drugs and threatening them with violence.
His defense has said the freak-offs were consensual.
Even if Diddy chooses to gloss over the freak-offs when questioned by his defense team, prosecutors will inevitably grill him on the topic and likely much more.
No trial date has been set, but Diddy continues to face devastating allegations from women he crossed paths with during his decades in the music industry.
The latest lawsuit against him was filed by Thalia Graves, who alleged that Diddy and his head of security Joseph Sherman raped her in the Bad Boy Records studios in New York back in 2001.
Diddy is being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center and will remain there until his trial begins.