Sean Combss Lawyers Say Video of Hallway Assault Was Altered

Lawyers for Sean Combs argued at a court hearing on Friday that a leaked security video showing Mr.Combs assaulting his former girlfriend was “deceptive,” and said they would request that it not be allowed as evidence at his upcoming trial on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.That video, recorded at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, was broadcast by CNN last year, months before Mr.

Combs’s arrest.It showed him beating, kicking and dragging Casandra Ventura, his former girlfriend and an artist once signed to his record label under her stage name, Cassie.Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer for Mr.

Combs, said that a forensic analysis of the security footage aired by CNN showed that the video had been sped up from its original source, that events were depicted out of sequence and that time stamps on the original tape had been covered up.“It’s a deceptive piece of evidence,” Mr.Agnifilo argued.

Mr.Combs’s lawyers, however, did not define how a change in sequencing would have affected a viewer’s understanding of what occurred.Mr.

Combs’s legal team also accused CNN of destroying the original footage, and said they planned to file a motion to exclude the video from evidence at Mr.Combs’s criminal trial, which is set to begin in May.CNN, in a statement from a spokeswoman, denied the allegations.

“CNN never altered the video and did not destroy the original copy of the footage, which was retained by the source,” the statement said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....