A US judge has set 5 May 2025 as the date for the start of hip-hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
Mr Combs was brought to Manhattan federal court from a Brooklyn prison for an appearance before Judge Arun Subramanian.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson told the court the government's case would last at least three weeks.
Mr Combs' case will last around one week, defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo said.
The judge was assigned to the case after another judge recused himself based on his past associations with lawyers in the case.
Mr Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty to charges lodged against him last month. Those charges included racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking based on allegations that go back to 2008.
An indictment alleges Mr Combs coerced and abused women for years with help from a network of associates and employees while silencing victims through blackmail and violent acts including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
His lawyers have been trying unsuccessfully to get the founder of Bad Boy Records freed on bail since his 16 September arrest.
Two judges have concluded that Mr Combs is a danger to the community if he is freed.
At a bail hearing three weeks ago, a judge rejected a $50m (€45.7m) bail package, including home detention and electronic monitoring, after concluding that Combs was a threat to tamper with witnesses and obstruct a continuing investigation.
In an appeal of the bail rulings to the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals, lawyers for Mr Combs on Tuesday asked a panel of judges to reverse the bail findings, saying the proposed bail package "would plainly stop him from posing a danger to anyone or contacting any witnesses".
They urged the appeals court to reject the findings of a lower-court judge who they said had "endorsed the government’s exaggerated rhetoric and ordered Mr Combs detained".
Source: Press Association/Reuters
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