The only victim set to speak at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sentencing Friday was scared off by a “bullying” letter from his lawyers, prosecutors alleged.
The former live-in assistant – who testified during Combs’ sex crimes trial under the pseudonym “Mia” and accused the mogul of rape – backed out of making an in-person victim impact statement at the last minute, prosecutor Mary Slavick said.
The traumatized woman didn’t show up to Manhattan federal court for the hearing “in part due to the letter submitted by the defense Wednesday that can only be described as bullying,” Slavick said.
Judge Arun Subramanian agreed he found the letter’s tone “inappropriate.”
The exact letter referenced was unclear, but Combs’ attorneys made a filing this week objecting to Mia’s planned appearance and viciously characterizing her as a “liar.”
Mia, while taking the stand in May, sobbed as she told jurors that the Bad Boy Records founder repeatedly raped and abused her during the tortuous eight years she worked for him.
Before the sentencing hearing, Mia penned a victim impact statement that described the alleged lasting psychological scars left by Combs, the difficulty of testifying and her lingering struggles with her emotional health.
“The defendant has shattered many lives and they too deserve justice,” she wrote. “They too deserve to live without shame or fear.
“Victims of sexual, psychological, and violent crimes, especially against women, are often forced
to prove themselves while reliving the very trauma that destroyed them,” her letter said.
“We are questioned, doubted, humiliated, and revictimized, as if surviving, and coming forward to tell the story of our survival, makes us suspect.”
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