Diddy wants to dismiss some of the claims in one of his sexual assault cases, claiming he can’t be sued under laws that didn’t even exist at the time of the alleged incident, TMZ reports.
According to new documents obtained by TMZ Diddy’s lawyers are firing back at claims made by Joi Dickerson-Neal — a woman who filed a suit against him in November claiming he drugged and sexually assaulted her back in 1991.
Joi filed six causes of action against Diddy, and now his team’s claiming she can’t sue him for several of those claims because the laws didn’t exist when she says he assaulted her.
For example, Dickerson-Neal’s suing Diddy under the New York Services for Victims of Human Trafficking Law … which Diddy’s lawyers note wasn’t in effect until 2007 — about 16 years after the incident took place.
Diddy’s also contesting her claims under the New York State Revenge Porn Law, codified in 2019, the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law — passed in 2000 — and the 2016 NYC Revenge Porn Law.
Basically, Diddy’s lawyers are calling for claims under these laws to be dismissed with prejudice — though, of course, they’re also maintaining their client didn’t commit the alleged acts at all, including the sexual assault she claims to have endured at his hands.
Worth noting … the lawyers aren’t making the same argument against the first two counts — common law claims for assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress that don’t rely on specific statutes — because the arguments about the timing of certain statutes being passed don’t apply to those claims … which are at the heart of her case.
One more issue Diddy’s lawyers are raising … they say Joi can’t sue Bad Boy Records or Bad Boy Entertainment like she’s trying — ’cause those, too, didn’t exist yet either.