Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, federal sex trafficking case, is assigned a new judge

CNN
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The federal sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs has been assigned a new judge.

On Thursday, a notice in the court filing said the case had been assigned to Judge Arun Subramanian, who was first nominated by President Joe Biden in 2022 and took over as judge in 2023.

Subramanian spent most of his career as a civil litigator handling complex disputes at the law firm Susman Godfrey. Before joining the law firm, he served as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

No explanation for the change was given. CNN has reached out to the court, Combs’ lawyers and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for comment.

Combs’ case was initially randomly assigned to Judge Andrew Carter, who was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2011.

Carter denied bail for Combs and ordered him held in jail while he awaits trial. At the end of a lengthy court hearing, the judge said he could not find conditions that would allow him to release the music mogul amid allegations of witness tampering and physical violence. Combs has appealed the decision.

Combs is currently incarcerated and being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York while he awaits his criminal trial.

He was arrested earlier this month and charged with conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation for prostitution. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.

CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister contributed to this report.