What is a Franks hearing? Diddy's team claims FBI already had "freak-off" tapes in custody before raiding rapper's homes

In the latest development regarding Diddy's case, his legal team had been pushing for a Franks hearing. The defense claimed that federal authorities had damaging information about Combs, like the alleged "freak-off" tapes, before conducting the raids. According to the defense team, since the government apparently had these tapes beforehand, they should have disclosed them earlier.

For the unversed, a Frank hearing is a legal proceeding that allows a party to challenge search warrants and the information obtained through them. If the party succeeds at this hearing, any information obtained through the particular search in question would be dismissed from being used further at the trial.

As per an article published by Shouse California Law Group on February 8, a Franks hearing can be requested if a search warrant contains "deliberately misleading information." As for the music mogul's team, this is the new claim that they made against the government, according to AllHipHop.

The defense further claimed that the feds tampered with several shreds of evidence, including alleged text messages between the alleged victims and Sean "Diddy" Combs. According to the defense team, the apparently omitted information by the feds could undermine the suit against Combs.

Diddy's lawyer, Alexandra A.E. Shapiro, stated:

"The warrant applications presented a grossly distorted picture of reality. The government had in its possession, for example, a variety of evidence…suggesting Victim-1's participation in the alleged 'freak-offs' (FOs) was voluntary and consensual, not coerced as the government suggested in its applications."

Shapiro further alleged that the omitted information included apparent evidence of a victim being a voluntary participant in Diddy's "freak-offs." The lawyer added that their involvement wasn't coerced, as suggested.

Meanwhile, the prosecution has previously accused the hip-hop mogul of witness tampering and misusing social media to influence public opinion. According to them, Diddy reportedly attempted to pay off the witnesses as well. As of now, he remains in prison after his bail was denied for the third time.

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"The misrepresentations and misleading omissions in the warrants are frequent"- Diddy's legal team on warrants

The prosecution has repeatedly accused Sean "Diddy" Combs of apparently trying to influence witnesses in some way or the other. However, the defense team has now made counter-allegations, claiming that there were misleading omissions in the warrants. The defense team argued:

"The misrepresentations and misleading omissions in the warrants are frequent and patterned."

As reported by AllHipHop, the court has yet to decide whether it will allow a Franks hearing in the case. The outlet further reported that if such a hearing gets allowed, it could weaken the government's case against the music mogul.

In a separate development, one of Diddy's defense lawyers, Anthony Ricco, has reportedly decided to withdraw from the case. According to The New York Post, Ricco filed a motion for withdrawal on Thursday, February 20.

As per the outlet, the withdrawal wouldn't be official until a judge signed it. In an affidavit submitted to the Manhattan federal court, Ricco wrote:

"Under no circumstances can I continue to effectively serve as counsel for Sean Combs. It is respectfully but regrettably requested that the court grant the relief requested."

Ricco has not provided any explanation for his decision to withdraw from the case.