Sean “Diddy” Combs now has fewer costs to face within the $30 million lawsuit filed towards him by former affiliate Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones.
In a ruling on Monday, the presiding decide deemed a number of the costs, together with a RICO declare, legally poor.
He additionally defined the explanation behind his choice and gave a robust reprimand to Lil Rod’s lawyer for his underhanded authorized techniques.
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Choose Struck Out RICO Expenses And Some Different Claims
On Monday, Diddy gained one other win in his ongoing authorized battles since his arrest in September final yr.
The rapper was sued by a former affiliate, Rodney’ Lil Rod’ Jones, who claimed that he was groomed, abused, and exploited by the embattled rapper throughout the time that they labored collectively.
A few of the costs that Lil Rod introduced towards Diddy have now been dismissed by Choose J. Paul Oetken of the US District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York in a 31-page ruling.
In line with The Hollywood Reporter, the decide struck out the racketeering accusation together with the breach of contract declare, which referenced Lil Rod’s claims that he was stiffed on $50,000 in fee, publishing shares, and royalties for his work on Diddy’s “The Love Album: Off the Grid.”
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Three different claims associated to infliction of emotional misery had been additionally dismissed alongside one other reason for motion within the go well with associated to the Trafficking Victims Safety Act.
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Why The Choose Dismissed The RICO Expenses
In his ruling, Oetken extensively defined why he didn’t enable Lil Rod and his legal professionals to maneuver ahead with the RICO costs.
“[Combs’] alleged refusal to honor the contract with Jones is just not itself a RICO predicate act, even when the contract breach resulted from Jones’s refusal to take part in Combs’s alleged racketeering scheme,” he wrote.
The decide added, “In sum, whether or not or not Jones has adequately alleged the existence of a RICO enterprise, he has not tied the actions of that enterprise to defendants’ breach of contract, or some other’ enterprise or property’ hurt incurred by Jones.”
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Oetken went additional to clarify why the breach of contract cost was additionally dismissed, claiming that Diddy and Lil Rod had no written fee settlement that compelled the embattled rapper to pay his former affiliate dividends and royalties.
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Diddy Nonetheless Has Different Pending Expenses In Lil Rod’s Swimsuit
Following the ruling, Diddy solely has to reply for claims of intercourse trafficking, sexual assault, and premises legal responsibility, which had been all a part of the preliminary go well with.
Nonetheless, Lil Rod’s lawyer, Tyrone A. Blackburn, is unfazed by these dismissals regardless of the implication that he seemingly now has a slimmer case towards Diddy.
In an interview with the outlet after the ruling, he mentioned that he respects the choice and now intends to maneuver ahead with authorized discovery on the remainder of the case, which additionally named Diddy’s chief of employees, Kristina Khorram.
“We view this as a win. [The] defendants wished a complete dismissal, and so they didn’t get it,” Blackburn informed The Hollywood Reporter. “I do know the place the entire our bodies are buried, and I’ve an enormous shovel. Time to begin digging!”
Federal Prosecutors Have been Just lately Ordered To Reveal The Title Of Diddy’s Accusers
Diddy’s latest courtroom win comes after prosecutors had been additionally ordered to disclose the identify of his accusers in his ongoing federal intercourse crimes trial.
The names the music mogul’s attorneys sought had been those listed within the indictment introduced towards the music mogul in September 2024.
Though it was already clear that Diddy’s ex-girlfriend Cassie was one of many accusers, the remainder of the names had been unknown to the rapper and his attorneys previous to the latest ruling.
They had been solely known as Sufferer 1, Sufferer 2, and Sufferer 3, with Cassie being famous as Sufferer 1, seemingly as a result of her viral assault video being a key piece of proof within the upcoming trial.
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In the meantime, the names will stay solely recognized to Diddy’s legal professionals and the prosecutors, because the decide additionally added an “underneath an Lawyer’s Eyes Solely designation” caveat.
As for Diddy, he stays in detention at a federal facility in New York forward of his trial in Could.
The Rapper Appeared ‘Bloated’ Throughout A Courtroom Look
Throughout a latest courtroom look, Diddy confronted allegations from three new victims that he sexually abused them between 2004 to 2024, which he pleaded not responsible to.
In line with the New York Post, the rapper appeared “bloated” and “previous” in his tan jail jumpsuit, sporting grey hair and a grey chinstrap beard.
CBS reporter Alice Gainer additionally famous the rapper’s aged look, writing on X, “Combs walked into courtroom sporting gray hair and a gray beard…”
This improvement comes as no shock, because the Unhealthy Boy Data founder has been locked behind bars on the infamous Metropolitan Detention Middle in Brooklyn since his September arrest.
