Sean 'Diddy' Combs case back in court - as lawyers appeal conviction

Lawyers for Sean "Diddy" Combs have returned to the courtroom to argue his sentence was too harsh, and have called for his conviction to be overturned.

The hip-hop mogul was found guilty of two prostitution-related charges, involving male sex workers and former girlfriends, following a trial last year - but was cleared of more serious charges of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

Combs, 56, was sentenced to more than four years in prison in October - and filed to appeal his conviction a few weeks later.

Now, his lawyers have made their case to judges sitting at the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, New York. They say the conviction should be reversed, or the rapper should at least be resentenced.

Combs' defence team argues Judge Arun Subramanian, who oversaw the trial, should not have considered evidence related to the more serious charges when sentencing.

"This case presents an important issue about a respect for jury verdicts and public confidence in our criminal ​justice system," defence attorney Alexandra Shapiro said during the hearing on Thursday.

Combs, a Grammy-winning artist and founder of Bad Boy Records, is serving his sentence ​at a low-security federal prison in Fort Dix, New Jersey.

With time served before sentencing, he is currently due to be released ​in April 2028, Bureau of Prisons records show.

During the rapper's seven-week trial last year, jurors heard allegations about drug-fuelled sex and sometimes days-long sexual encounters, referred to as "freak offs" and "hotel nights", involving former girlfriends and male sex workers.

But while Combs was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution in relation to sexual encounters involving former girlfriends Cassie Ventura and a woman who used the pseudonym Jane in court, he was cleared of the more serious charges alleging the women were forced or coerced into taking part.

Ms Shapiro argued in court papers that the conviction on prostitution charges should be overturned because Combs was alleged to have watched his former girlfriends having sex with paid escorts, but did not take part himself.

Read more from Sky News:
Man jailed for £2m theft of bag holding Faberge egg
The shocking photo people thought was AI

"It was unlawful, unconstitutional and a perversion of justice to sentence Combs as if ​the jury had found him guilty of sex trafficking and [racketeering charges]," she wrote.

Prosecutor Christy Slavik, who presented her arguments after Shapiro, told the appeals judges that the 50-month sentence handed to Combs was not unreasonable.

In the government's court documents, Ms Slavik ​said Mr Subramanian was right to consider evidence of threats and abuse by Combs toward his former girlfriends, ⁠even though he was acquitted of sex trafficking, because that alleged conduct was relevant to the prostitution counts.

After hearing the arguments during a two-hour hearing, the appeals court judges reserved judgment for a later date.

(c) Sky News 2026: Sean 'Diddy' Combs case back in court - as lawyers appeal conviction