Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial set for May

NEW YORK (AP) — A May 5 trial date was set Thursday in Sean “Diddy” Combs'sex trafficking case, and a prosecutor argued that the jailed hip-hop mogul's lawyers were trying to exclude a “damning piece of evidence” by claiming it was leaked by the government.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson struck back against the defense's claims during Combs' first appearance before Manhattan federal court Judge Arun Subramanian, who will preside over his trial. Combs' mother flew in from Florida for the proceeding, sitting behind him with his children and other family members in the courtroom gallery.

Johnson took issue with the defense lawyers' argument in a submission late Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security leaked a video to the media of Combs punching and kicking his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.

Combs' lawyers said the video, aired by CNN in May, and other alleged government leaks “have led to damaging, highly prejudicial pretrial publicity that can only taint the jury pool and deprive Mr. Combs of his right to a fair trial.”