Sean "Diddy" Combs' lawyers want his conviction overturned for First Amendment reasons

This news comes this morning via Billboard, which reports that Combs’ team argues that the government “painted him as a monster,” a characterization the jury “rejected.” Further, attorneys are now attempting to argue that his actions amount to protected speech. “Sean Combs sits in jail based on evidence that he paid adult male escorts and entertainers who engaged in consensual sexual activities with his former girlfriends, which he videotaped and later watched with the girlfriends,” Marc Agnifilo, with Combs’ other lawyers, writes in the filing. “That is not prostitution, and if it is, his conviction is unconstitutional.” Agnifilo then tries to paint the “freak off” videos as “producing amateur pornography for later private viewing,” continuing, “This is protected First Amendment conduct that no substantial government interest justifies prohibiting, since the films depicted adults voluntarily engaging in consensual activity.” 

In July, Combs was convicted of two out of the five charges he faced, specifically related to the Mann Act, which criminalizes the transportation of “any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.” Combs was found not guilty of charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. Billboard suggests that Combs is likely to receive between two and five years in prison for these convictions.