News : Diddy Clashes With Prosecutors Over Trial Start Date & Jury Selection Process

Diddy and his legal team are clashing with federal prosecutors over his upcoming trial, particularly about the jury selection and the start date.

According to documents obtained by TMZ on Thursday (March 13), Puff’s side is looking to start jury selection on May 5, and they want to choose from a huge pool of 600 potential jurors.

Prosecutors would prefer an April 21 start, however, with the idea to start trial on May 5.

Diddy’s team feels this isn’t enough time to thoroughly vet the jurors, as they want to have everyone fill out written questionnaires, as well as a sequestered jury selection process to question each person individually.

This is the same filing that included the embattled mogul’s defense claiming that the Cassie tape was “altered” and the original tape destroyed, revealing plans to file a motion to exclude the video from the trial.

However, in a pre-trial conference on Friday (March 14), Feds confirmed they have the original tape – thus invalidating Puff’s argument.

The next pretrial conference is set for April 25.

In related news, Diddy’s request to have unrestricted access to the “freak off” videos Cassie provided as evidence was recently denied, with prosecutors claiming that the embattled mogul is showcasing a “willingness to violate the Protective Order in order to embarrass” her.

While Diddy has been able to review many of the tapes at his leisure – both alone and with his legal team – to help build his defense, some of the videos that Cassie herself provided have been deemed more sensitive. Thus, due to a Protective Order, they can only be viewed by Diddy and his attorneys in person, while they are monitored by law enforcement officials.

Diddy’s team has argued that they need more access so he can review the tapes while behind bars, and filed a motion requesting that access.

The judge ultimately denied Diddy’s request for more access, writing, “While the Government objects to handing the videos over, they provide several options for defendant to consider that would permit the defense to view the videos, access the information they are looking for, and even allow them to manipulate the videos as they see fit.”