Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial updates: Bail denied due to 'propensity for violence'

Judge Arun Subramanian denied Sean Combs' bail during a brief hearing following his conviction on two counts.

Combs looked to both his lawyers as the judge read the decision. His head was largely down, though he was occasionally whispering to attorney Brian Steel.

Subramanian said that detention is required based on Combs' conviction. He did not hear any arguments from the lawyers. He had been reading his decision since he took the bench.

"Defendant's violence was starkly depicted" in the 2016 Intercontinental video, the judge said, referencing hotel security footage that showed him physically assaulting his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.

Subramanian called Combs' domestic violence a "propensity for violence."

"It is impossible for the defendant to demonstrate... that he poses no danger to the community," the judge noted.

Prosecutors are using a "overbroad interpretation" of violent crimes to justify detaining Sean Combs, his defense lawyers wrote in a letter to the judge ahead of the rap mogul's 5 p.m. bail hearing.

Defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro implored Judge Arun Subramanian to immediately release Combs, arguing that it would be "unjust to continue detaining Mr. Combs at the MDC even one day longer."

"Mr. Combs should be released on bail today," she wrote.

While prosecutors argue that Combs' was convicted of a "crime of violence" that requires "mandatory detention," defense lawyers argued they incorrectly applied the law. Federal law, they argue, only considers transportation for the purposes of prostitution to be a violent crime when it involves minors. They argue that Combs should not be held accountable for the other alleged violence because the jury acquitted him on the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

"For months, the government repeatedly argued, and announced to the world, that Sean Combs was a monster who perpetrated a 20-year federal crime spree through a racketeering enterprise," she wrote.

Defense lawyers also argued that Combs should be released because his 85-year-old mother wants him to be her primary caretaker. They added that Combs has a 3-year-old child "who also needs her father" and multiple other children.

"Mr. Combs's mother is 85 years old. She suffers from various health conditions. For example, she was hospitalized in July 2024 for a heart condition and had brain surgery the previous year. She lives near Mr. Combs in Florida and she would like him to be her primary caretaker," the letter noted.

If Combs is released, defense lawyers have argued he can stay at his $48 million mansion in Miami, which he fully paid off last year.

Hours after Sean Combs' conviction, prosecutors and defense attorneys already disagree about how long a prison sentence the rap mogul deserves.

Citing the federal sentencing guidelines -- a set of rules published by the government annually to give judges a framework to determine fair sentences -- prosecutors argued that Combs' guideline range is 51 to 63 months' imprisonment, about four to five years.

Prosecutors wrote that the estimate is "preliminary" and could increase.

Defense attorneys argue the guidelines point toward a 21- to 27-month sentence -- approximately two years.

While judges are not bound by the guidelines, they generally offer a reasonable estimate for a defendant's sentence.

The time Combs spent incarcerated awaiting trial -- about nine months -- will be subtracted from whatever sentence he might receive.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian has not set a sentencing date.

Later today, he will hold a hearing about whether to release Combs from federal detention ahead of his future sentencing date.

Cassie Ventura is urging the judge overseeing Sean Combs' criminal case to keep the rap mogul detained ahead of his sentencing, according to a letter from her attorney.

"Ms. Ventura believes that Mr. Combs is likely to pose a danger to the victims who testified in this case, including herself, as well as to the community," her attorney, Douglas Wigdor, wrote in a one-page letter to the court.

Urging the judge to deny Combs' request to be released ahead of his sentencing, Wigdor argued that Combs' continued detention is "mandatory" based on his conviction.