(NewsNation) — Sean “Diddy” Combs pled not guilty to allegations in a superseding indictment, appearing in court Friday ahead of his federal criminal case in New York.
Judge Arun Subramanian set jury selection to begin May 5, with the trial to tentatively start May 12.
Combs faces federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty.
A main point of contention during Friday’s hearing was whether a hotel surveillance video obtained by CNN from 2016 that appears to show Combs violently attacking his former partner Cassie Ventura could be used at trial.
Prosecutors argued that the video was “critical to the case.”
Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said the video is a “misleading piece of evidence, a deceptive piece of evidence, a piece of evidence that has been changed.”
Agnifilo added that defense has a visual expert who looked at all the “inaccuracies” in the CNN video who said parts were sped up “to two-times speed” and “took things out of sequence.”
CNN has said in a statement that it “never altered the video and did not destroy the original copy of the footage, which was retained by the source.”
Combs walked into the courtroom wearing a tan prison-issued shirt and pants. His hair and beard appeared noticeably more grey. He smiled, waved and blew kisses to his several members of his family who sat in court.
Prosecutors amended the federal indictment against Combs last week to add accusations of “forced labor” to the existing racketeering charge.
Combs has been detained at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center for six months.
He was denied bail in September when the indictment was unsealed and again earlier in November as the judge deemed him a flight risk due to his money and connections.
Federal prosecutors allege Combs lured victims by promising a romantic relationship before using threats, intimidation and abuse to get them to engage in sexual activities.
Combs faces a slew of sexual assault allegations, some of which date back decades.