Sean “Diddy” Combs is leaning closely on a current authorized choice involving the Alexander brothers—distinguished Miami actual property figures accused of intercourse trafficking—to fend off a number of lawsuits, together with a sexual assault declare filed by mannequin Crystal McKinney.
The ruling, handed down by U.S. District Decide Lewis Kaplan, may present a pivotal lifeline for the Hip-Hop mogul as he battles to dismiss allegations tied to occasions stretching again a long time.
The Alexander brothers—Oren, Alon, and Tal—are embroiled in a firestorm of accusations alleging they drugged, assaulted, and trafficked girls for over a decade.
Arrested in December 2024 on federal intercourse trafficking fees, the brothers allegedly used their high-profile actual property careers to lure victims with guarantees of luxurious and alternative, solely to drug and assault them.
Prosecutors declare the brothers relied on substances resembling GHB, cocaine, and psychedelic mushrooms to incapacitate their victims.
As of late 2024, over 30 girls have stepped ahead with accusations towards the trio, who’re locked up in the identical Brooklyn jail as Diddy.
One civil lawsuit towards the brothers, introduced by Angelica Parker and dismissed by Decide Kaplan final week, hinged on the New York Metropolis Gender-Motivated Violence Act (VGM).
Kaplan dominated that the VGM’s revival window was preempted by broader state legal guidelines, together with the Grownup Survivors Act (ASA), which had its personal stricter statute of limitations.
Whereas Kaplan’s choice didn’t deal with the validity of Parker’s allegations, it deemed her declare time-barred—a authorized technicality Diddy’s attorneys are actually trying to reap the benefits of.
Diddy’s authorized group wasted no time referencing the Alexander case of their bid to dismiss McKinney’s lawsuit.
Filed in Could 2024, McKinney’s swimsuit alleges that in 2003, Diddy drugged and sexually assaulted her at his New York Metropolis studio when she was a 22-year-old mannequin.
McKinney claims Diddy laced a marijuana joint with an unknown substance, pressured her to eat extra alcohol and medicines, and finally assaulted her in a studio rest room.
McKinney has alleged that the assault derailed her modeling profession and triggered lasting emotional trauma, together with extreme despair and a suicide try.
“McKinney is a lady of religion and when she noticed information protection of the lawsuits from Ms. Cassie Ventura, Ms. Dickerson-Neal, and others, she knew she had an ethical obligation to talk up,” her lawyer, Michelle A. Caiola defined. “[McKinney] prayed to God earlier than bringing this lawsuit, as she feared additional violence and/or retaliation from Combs, however finally determined that she wanted to talk her fact.”
Nevertheless, in a letter filed on Monday (January 27), Diddy’s lawyer Erica A. Wolff highlighted Kaplan’s ruling, arguing that McKinney’s declare underneath the VGM can be time-barred.
“The Parker choice additional helps granting [Diddy’s] pending Movement to Dismiss within the immediate case,” Wolff acknowledged.
Whereas Kaplan’s ruling within the Alexander case was rooted in procedural points moderately than the substance of the allegations, Diddy’s group is banking on the choice to bolster their arguments.
Kaplan decided that the VGM’s revival window conflicted with state-level statutes, such because the ASA, which included a one-year window for survivors to file claims between November 2022 and November 2023.
McKinney, like Parker, filed her swimsuit exterior of this window.
Diddy’s authorized group is holding their breath that Kaplan’s choice turns into a cornerstone of their protection, probably clearing him of McKinney’s allegations and over two dozen related lawsuits.
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