Diddy‘s legal team is looking to get the brutal footage of him assaulting Cassie in a hotel hallway removed from his upcoming trial on the basis that it was “altered.”
TMZ got their hands on a letter filed by the mogul’s defense team on Thursday (March 13), which claims that “CNN purchased the only known copy of the Hotel’s surveillance footage, uploaded that footage into a free editing software, altered the video and then destroyed the original footage, even though it knew about and repeatedly reported about the federal investigation.”
The altering, his team says, includes “covering the time stamp and then changing the video sequence. It also includes speeding up the video to make it falsely appear that the actions in the video are taking place faster than they are.”
They argue that it is not an accurate representation of what really happened, and revealed plans to file a motion to exclude the video from the trial. Should what they allege be true, Diddy’s motion may be granted as courts rarely allow edited video evidence.
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However, in a statement to HipHopDX, representatives for CNN said: “CNN never altered the video and did not destroy the original copy of the footage, which was retained by the source. CNN aired the story about the video several months before Combs was arrested.”
Upon hearing the news, Cassie’s legal team hit back and told TMZ it’s not surprising that Diddy “would make a disingenuous argument to exclude the disturbing video from being shown to the jury in the upcoming trial.
Her attorney continued: “I am confident that the video fairly and accurately represents what happened, will be admitted into evidence [and Diddy] will be held accountable for his depravity.”
It’s to be noted that this specific incident is not part of the charges Diddy is facing, but prosecutors plan to use the footage to show how violent the mogul can allegedly get.
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In related news, Diddy’s request to have unrestricted access to the “freak off” videos Cassie provided as evidence was recently denied, with prosecutors claiming that the embattled mogul is showcasing a “willingness to violate the Protective Order in order to embarrass” her.
While Diddy has been able to review many of the tapes at his leisure – both alone and with his legal team – to help build his defense, some of the videos that Cassie herself provided have been deemed more sensitive. Thus, due to a Protective Order, they can only be viewed by Diddy and his attorneys in person, while they are monitored by law enforcement officials.
Diddy’s team has argued that they need more access so he can review the tapes while behind bars, and filed a motion requesting that access.
The judge ultimately denied Diddy’s request for more access, writing, “While the Government objects to handing the videos over, they provide several options for defendant to consider that would permit the defense to view the videos, access the information they are looking for, and even allow them to manipulate the videos as they see fit.”
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The trial is set to begin on May 5.
