Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs retaliated against a woman’s lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault by submitting a move on Friday to dismiss some allegations that were not legal at the time of the alleged occurrence.
According to a motion submitted to a New York court, Combs cannot be sued as, at the time of Joi Dickerson-Neal’s 1991 accusations against him, certain statutes were not in effect.
The music mogul’s attorneys are requesting the prejudice dismissal of several statutes from Dickerson-Neal’s allegations, including those pertaining to revenge porn and human trafficking.
In a court petition from the previous year, she claimed that Combs “intentionally drugged” her, brought her home, and, when she was a 19-year-old college student, sexually raped her.
The lawsuit claims that Combs recorded the attack without her knowledge and shared it with a number of his colleagues in the music business. He refuted the claims, charging instead that she was attempting to take advantage of the New York laws that temporarily extended the statute of limitations.
Diddy’s stance on the sexual allegations
Diddy’s lawyers and the mogul “vehemently deny” what they called “numerous false, offensive, and salacious accusations” in the lawsuit, despite Friday’s move to dismiss the case on legal grounds.
Dickerson-Neal’s allegation was made almost thirty years after his claimed wrongdoing, and according to Combs’ attorneys, the New York State Revenge Porn Law was not enacted until 2019. His lawyers also mentioned a few more, such as the 2007-enacted New York Services for Victims of Human Trafficking Law.
When someone comes forward publicly, as Dickerson-Neal has done, the Associated Press usually does not identify them as victims of sexual abuse.
Federal officials raided Combs’ residences in Miami and Los Angeles last month as part of an investigation into sex trafficking. As the defendant in multiple recent cases alleging sexual abuse, Combs is under intense scrutiny, and this is evident with the criminal probe.
Combs was sued by his former protege and girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, in November. The complaint was resolved the day after it was filed, with Combs claiming years of sexual abuse, including rape. He allegedly made her have sex with male prostitutes while filming them, according to the lawsuit.
A music producer sued Combs in February, claiming the artist forced him to approach prostitutes and forced him to have sex with them. A lady who claimed Combs had sexually assaulted her when she was 17 years old two decades prior was one of Combs’ other accusers.
All of the accusations made in the cases have been refuted by Combs and his legal team.