Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Granted Fast-Track Appeal

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has granted Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ unopposed motion to expedite his appeal. The rapper’s first formal written argument (appellate brief) is due next month, and arguments are tentatively on track for April. Combs applied for a quick appeal on the grounds that he could be close to getting out of prison by the time his case was heard if he was forced to follow the typical, drawn-out argument timeline.

The disgraced music mogul is challenging both his July conviction and the resulting four-year prison sentence for arranging the drug-fuelled sex marathons, known as “freak-offs”, between his girlfriends and male escorts. Jurors found Combs guilty of illegal prostitution, but they acquitted him of more serious racketeering and sex-trafficking charges. The appeals procedure is generally a slow one. In the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, it often takes up to 18 months to get a criminal appeal decided.

Combs’ lawyers won’t have to wait that long. “An expedited briefing and argument schedule is critical to ensure that Mr Combs’s appeal of his sentence does not become moot while the appeal is pending,” his lawyer Alexandra Shapiro argued. Wednesday’s court filing showed prosecutors had already consented to the expedited briefing schedule.