Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lawyer withdraws from representation

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, 55, has been accused of trafficking three women and is currently awaiting a trial for the charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. Combs has denied the charges, and is due to stand trial from May 5th. 

However, his defence lawyer, Anthony Ricco, filed a motion to the rapper’s surprise on February 21st to withdraw from representing Combs. Mr Ricco has stated in the withdrawal motion to state ‘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.’ He continued to outline that ‘there are sufficient reasons (related to the protections afforded by the attorney/client privilege) for brevity in my application for withdrawal as counsel in this case.’

Mr Ricco expressed his belief that his withdrawal will not impact or delay Combs’ case; allowing the trial to continue in May under the representation of attorneys Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos.

The motion to withdraw must now be approved by a judge who believes that there is a sufficiently valid reason to do so. Until then, Mr Ricco is still technically representing Combs.  

Mr Ricco, since passing the US bar, has been the defence attorney on numerous high-profile cases, including a number of death-penalty cases. He also lectures on the legal area and is an advocate for those facing the death penalty. In 2001, he was a counsel on the Omar Abdel Rahman and Osama Bin Laden World Trade Centre bombing conspiracy cases. In these cases, he stated that ‘Having knowledge someone is in al-Qaeda is not a criminal act. Many members of al-Qaeda are not involved in criminal activity.’