Team Diddy's Controversial Defense in Rape Case Compared to Drunk Driving

In a recent court filing, Team Diddy challenges the validity of expert testimony on rape, claiming that the crime isn’t as underreported as suggested and using controversial comparisons to other crimes, provoking fierce criticism.

In a dramatic twist in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ ongoing federal case, his legal team filed an opposition (Filing #271) against government expert witness Dr. Dawn Hughes on April 25, 2025. This move has sparked a heated discussion around the seriousness of sexual assault and the comparisons made to other crimes like drunk driving and tax evasion.

Combs’ attorneys, which include Teny Geragos, Marc Agnifilo, Alexandra Shapiro, Jason Driscoll, and Anna Estevao, have been dubbed “the lame brains” by critics for their seemingly outlandish arguments. They contend that rape is not as misreported as suggested, and argue that the absence of certain crimes, such as tax evasion and drunk driving, from key surveys indicates an even lower reporting rate than that of sexual assault, countering Dr. Hughes's assertion.

Hughes sought to testify that rape is underreported, a claim that the defense argues is irrelevant in determining guilt or innocence in Combs’ case, which centers around sex trafficking rather than rape itself. The defense further criticizes Hughes for making broad claims about sexual crimes being the most underreported, stating that such generalizations fail to stand on solid ground.

The filing does not stop at challenging Hughes’s expert testimony; it also takes aim at sexual assault and battered women’s advocates who frequently serve as expert witnesses. Describing their testimony as “riddled with conceptual, evidential and other general problems,” the defense appears eager to undermine their credibility.

As each filing emerges, critics express that Team Diddy’s defense strategy seems to be becoming increasingly desperate, raising questions about the effectiveness and ethics of their argumentative tactics in addressing such a serious issue.