Sean “Diddy” Combs will appear before the judge for the first time in the sex trafficking case

NEW YORK – NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs will make his first appearance before the judge expected to preside over the hip-hop leader's trial on sex trafficking charges.

Combs will be transported from a Brooklyn jail to federal court in Manhattan, where he is scheduled to appear before Judge Arun Subramanian on Thursday afternoon.

The hearing is expected to result in deadlines for attorneys for both sides to file arguments that will set the boundaries for a trial that Combs' lawyers want to begin in April or May. Prosecutors have expressed no preference for the timing of the trial.

The judge was assigned to the case after another judge recused himself in the case due to his previous contacts with attorneys.

Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty to charges filed against him last month. Those charges included racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, based on allegations dating back to 2008.

An indictment alleges that Combs, with the help of a network of associates and associates, coerced and abused women for years while silencing victims through extortion and violent acts such as kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.

His lawyers have been trying unsuccessfully to get the Bad Boy Records founder released on bail since his arrest on September 16.

Two judges have concluded that Combs poses a danger to the community if he is released. At a bail hearing three weeks ago, a judge rejected a $50 million bond, including house arrest and electronic monitoring, after concluding that Combs posed a threat, witness tampering and further investigation to hinder.

In an appeal of the bail decisions to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Combs' lawyers on Tuesday asked a panel of judges to overturn the bail findings, saying the proposed bail package “would clearly prevent him from posing a danger to anyone or from making contact.” . “any witnesses.”

They asked the appeals court to reject the findings of a lower court judge who they said “supported the government's exaggerated rhetoric and ordered Mr. Combs' detention.”