Sean 'Diddy' Combs files motion to vacate $100M default judgment in sexual assault lawsuit filed by inmate
Sean “Diddy” Combs has asked a judge to set aside a $100 million default judgment awarded this week to a Michigan inmate who alleges he was sexually assaulted by the music mogul.
Sean “Diddy” Combs has asked a judge to set aside a $100 million default judgment awarded this week to a Michigan inmate who alleges he was sexually assaulted by the music mogul.
The inmate, Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, filed a lawsuit in June, in which he alleged that when he was in his 20s, he had been sexually assaulted by Combs at a hotel party in 1997. A Lenawee County Circuit Court judge ruled in his favor because Combs failed to respond to Cardello-Smith’s complaint.
But in an emergency motion filed Thursday, attorneys for Combs said the default judgment is invalid under Michigan state law because he was never served with the lawsuit and learned of it only after the judgment was reported by media outlets Monday. Combs’ attorneys said that the statute of limitations ended in 2007, so the suit should be dismissed.
His attorneys also filed a motion to dissolve a temporary restraining order Cardello-Smith recently obtained against him after Combs failed to contest it. In the request for Judge Anna Marie Anzalone to vacate the default judgment, Combs’ attorneys said that Cardello-Smith is a “convicted felon who is currently serving time in prison for kidnapping and sexual assault” and that he has frequently filed “frivolous” claims.
Cardello-Smith, who is representing himself, alleged in the lawsuit that on or around June 14, 1997, while he was a bartender at a Detroit-area restaurant, he was invited to an afterparty hosted by Combs at a Holiday Inn. A copy of the lawsuit is included in the emergency motion filed Thursday.
Rating: 5