Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs will appear for the first time before the trial judge in a sex trafficking case – Diario La Página –

Sean “Diddy” Combs will appear for the first time before the judge expected to preside over the powerful rapper’s trial on sex trafficking charges.

Combs will be brought to Manhattan federal court from a Brooklyn jail to appear Thursday afternoon before Judge Arun Subramanian.

The hearing is expected to result in setting deadlines for attorneys on both sides to present arguments that will set the boundaries of a trial that Combs’ attorneys want to begin in April or May. Prosecutors have not expressed a preference on when the trial could take place.

The judge was assigned to the case after another judge recused himself based on his past associations with attorneys in the case.

Combs, 54, pleaded not guilty to charges filed against him last month, including conspiracy to commit crimes and sex trafficking, based on allegations dating back to 2008.

An indictment alleges that Combs coerced and abused women for years with the help of a network of associates and employees, while silencing victims through blackmail and violent acts that included kidnappings, arson and physical beatings.

His lawyers have been trying unsuccessfully to have the Bad Boy Records founder released on bail since his arrest on September 16.

Two judges have concluded that Combs is a danger to the community if released. At a bond hearing three weeks ago, a judge rejected a $50 million bond, which included house arrest and electronic monitoring, after concluding that Combs was a threat to tamper with witnesses and obstruct an ongoing investigation.

In an appeal of the bail decisions to the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Combs’ attorneys on Tuesday asked a panel of judges to reverse the bail decisions, saying the proposed bail package “clearly “It would prevent him from posing a danger to anyone or contacting any witnesses.”

They urged the appeals court to reject the findings of a trial judge who they said had “endorsed the government’s exaggerated rhetoric and ordered Mr. Combs’ detention.”