Sean “Diddy” Combs will remain in jail while he makes a third bid for bail in his sex trafficking case, a federal appeals court judge has ruled.
Circuit Judge William J Nardini denied the rapper’s immediate release from jail while a three-judge panel considers his bail request.
Lawyers for the 54-year-old, also known as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, appealed to the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals on 30 September after two judges rejected his release.
Combs pleaded not guilty on 17 September to a three-count indictment charging him with using his business empire, including record label Bad Boy Entertainment, to transport male and female sex workers across state lines to take part in recorded sexual performances called “freak offs”.
Yesterday, in his third court appearance since his arrest in September, Combs was told he will face trial on 5 May.
The hip-hop mogul has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his arrest.
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He faces a sentence of up to life in prison and a minimum of 15 years if convicted of the three counts: racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Three weeks ago, a judge at a bail hearing rejected the defence’s $50m (£38m) bail proposal for the singer to be placed under house arrest in his mansion in Florida – which would have involved GPS monitoring and strict limits on visitors.
Prosecutors had presented “clear and convincing evidence” Combs was a danger to the community, Judge Andrew L Carter Jr said.
He said “no condition or set of conditions” could prevent Combs from obstructing the investigation or threatening or harming witnesses.
The judge has since recused himself from the case, based on his past associations with lawyers in the case, according to Sky’s US partner, NBC News.
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Combs’ lawyers argued the judge had “endorsed the government’s exaggerated rhetoric” and ordered Combs detained for “purely speculative reasons”.
“Indeed, hardly a risk of flight, he is a 54-year-old father of seven, a US citizen, an extraordinarily successful artist, businessman and philanthropist, and one of the most recognisable people on earth,” the lawyers wrote in their appeal