Diddy’s Legal Battle: Statute of Limitations Challenged amid Ongoing Investigation and Prior Misconduct Allegations

Two weeks have passed since police raided the homes of Sean “Diddy” Combs as part of an investigation into allegations made against him by a woman who claims he drugged and sexually assaulted her over 30 years ago. While little new information has been released to the public, legal proceedings are still ongoing behind closed doors. FOX 5 NY’s Lisa Evers spoke with a former federal prosecutor about where the investigation currently stands.
In related news, lawyers representing Combs have requested that certain charges brought by his accuser be dropped as they believe he was not liable under law when these events allegedly occurred several decades ago. In legal filings seen by the Associated Press on Friday (4 Feb), attorneys claimed Combs cannot legally face punishment due to changes in New York’s statute of limitations laws since the alleged assault took place, and that some relevant legislation was not enacted until 2019 or later.
The woman at the centre of these allegations is Joi Dickerson-Deal, who claims she became unconscious during a date with Combs when she was just 19 years old in Harlem over three decades ago. She further alleged that he sexually assaulted her and recorded this act before sharing it with friends within his industry circle. Diddy has repeatedly denied these allegations but acknowledged the woman’s intentions to use New York’s extortion legislation against him. This law, which extends statutes of limitations for victims who were previously unaware that they had been exploited or defrauded in some way, came into effect in 2019; Combs has suggested Dickerson-Deal is attempting to capitalise on it by bringing these allegations forward now.
This isn’t the first time Diddy has faced accusations of sexual assault and misconduct – his former protégé Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura alleged in a lawsuit filed against him last year that he subjected her to years of abuse, including beatings and rape, while they were dating between 2005-17. This case was settled shortly after it was brought before the courts in November.
In other news, New York state governor Kathy Hochul recently signed a bill amending its Human Rights Law which extends statutes of limitations for filing claims of unlawful discrimination under state law to three years – a substantial change from its previous time-frame requirement; formerly the maximum amount of time victims had in order to file such allegations was one year (provided this restriction wasn’t imposed in exceptional situations such as sexual harassment cases, which could be filed within a period spanning up to 3 years).