Diddy’s lawyer quits ahead of music mogul’s sex trafficking trial

 Diddy’s lawyer quits ahead of music mogul’s sex trafficking trial

One of the lawyers representing Sean “Diddy” Combs in his upcoming sex-trafficking case has requested he be allowed to leave the defense team.

Anthony Ricco filed his request in the Southern District of New York federal court.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ricco wrote: “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.”

Ricco also noted that his withdrawal should not delay the trial, which is scheduled to begin in May. Combs will continue to be represented by five other attorneys, including Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos.

Last September, Combs was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Earlier this week, Combs’s lawyers attempted to have one of the charges against the embattled music mogul thrown out over claims that the law itself is racist.

In a filing seen by The Independent, his lawyers sought to have the prostitution charge dismissed on the basis that the law in question, the Mann Act of 1910, has historically been used to “target Black men.”

“No white person has ever been the target of a remotely similar prosecution,” claimed the filing.

The Mann Act was initially called the White-Slave Traffic Act and was passed at a time when there was a growing anxiety about young girls being lured into work in brothels.

The filing argued that the Act has a “long and troubling history as a statute with racist origins, used to target Black men and supposedly protect white women from them.”

Combs’s lawyers claimed that “the government has concocted a criminal case based primarily on allegations that Mr Combs and two of his longtime girlfriends sometimes brought a third party - a male escort - into their sexual relationship.” (Courtesy, excluding headline, The Independent)