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Diddy Attorney Files to Withdraw From Representing Disgraced Rapper Ahead of May Trial
Lawyer Anthony Ricco says there are “no circumstances” under which he can continue to effectively counsel Sean “Diddy” Combs
Anthony Ricco, one of several attorneys currently representing Sean “Diddy” Combs, has filed a motion requesting to withdraw as a member of the disgraced music mogul’s legal team.
The motion, filed Thursday in the Southern District of New York and obtained by TheWrap, includes a declaration in which Ricco asserts he is requesting to withdraw “as a result of discussions with lead counsel Mark Agnifilo.” Ricco’s declaration notes, “Although I have provided Sean Combs with the high level of legal representation expected by the court, under no circumstances can I continue to effectively serve as counsel for Sean Combs, consistent with the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice.”
Combs was arrested and indicted in New York in September on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. He is currently being held in federal custody at a detention center in Brooklyn. His trial is set to begin on May 5. In both his declaration and motion, Ricco insists that his withdrawal, if granted, “will not result in a delay of the present schedule for the commencement of jury selection and trial, or the present schedules for briefing of pre-trial legal issues.”
The attorney adds that Combs will continue to be represented by five attorneys on record and his withdrawal would, therefore, not result in a “lapse in representation” for the media figure.
Combs is accused of instances dating as far back as 2008 in which he allegedly assaulted, raped and trafficked women, transported people across state lines with the intent of prostituting them and used his financial and professional power to coerce and threaten men and women into participating in degrading sex acts that lasted hours and days. He is also accused of blackmailing, kidnapping and physically beating his victims in order to silence them.
His attorney’s withdrawal motion comes the same week Combs’ legal team filed to dismiss one of the sex trafficking charges against him, arguing that the origins of the law he’s accused of breaking in this instance are “racist.” In early February, Combs also filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against NBCUniversal for Peacock’s “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy” documentary, which itself followed a $50 million defamation lawsuit he filed in January.
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Diddy lawyer quits amid federal sex crimes charges: ‘Under no circumstances can I continue’
Sean “Diddy” Combs is losing part of his legal team.
As the embattled music mogul faces down a torrent of civil suits and a federal sexual abuse and racketeering case, one of his lawyers, Anthony Ricco, is calling it quits. In a motion filed in New York Federal Court Friday, Ricco notified the judge of his intent to withdraw, adding it had followed discussions with Combs’ lead counsel Marc Agnifilo.
“Although I have provided Sean Combs with the high level of legal representation expected by the court, under no circumstances can I continue to effectively serve as counsel for Sean Combs,” Ricco wrote.
He declined to offer the specific details that led to the decision, citing attorney/client privilege in the filing.
USA TODAY has reached out to Ricco, Agnifilo, and Combs for further comment.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Ricco represents only one lawyer in a larger team that is working to defend Combs against accusations of rape and sex trafficking. The Bad Boy Records founder has maintained his innocence even as more alleged victims have come forward to outline a pattern of abuse spanning much of the producer’s career.
Most recently, lawyers for Combs have argued that the federal indictment − which, in part, accuses the rapper of transportation to engage in prostitution − leans on a “racist” law.
“No white person has ever been the target of a remotely similar prosecution,” a Tuesday filing on behalf of Combs argued. Seeking to dismiss the suit, his defense team seized on one of the laws the government is using to charge him: the Mann Act, officially known as the White-Slave Traffic Act, which makes it illegal to transport people across state or international lines for the purpose of prostitution. Combs lawyers argue the law has a history of racial bias and rarely results in prosecution for white people.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ lawyers slamfeds for using ‘racist’ law ‘used to target Black men’
His lawyers say the law was historically “used to target Black men and supposedly protect white women from them,” adding that people like Jim Crow-era boxer Jack Johnson and Chuck Berry have been accused under the act, which targets “black male sexuality” and accuses them of “deviant sexual behavior.”
“No other person, and certainly no white person, has ever previously been prosecuted under the White-Slave Traffic Act for hiring male escorts from another (state),” reads the document filed in the U.S. Southern District of New York. Combs “has been singled out because he is a powerful black man, and he is being prosecuted for conduct that regularly goes unpunished.”
Those federal charges represent a singular, albeit large, dot in a constellation of accusations and suits facing the once-celebrated artist.
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.
