Why Most of Sean Combs’ Accusers Are Anonymous and How Long They Can Stay That Way

While Sean Combs faces numerous anonymous accusers in both civil and criminal court who claim he sexually abused them, his lawyers have argued that such anonymity is an unfair obstacle to his defense.

In more than half of the 27 sexual abuse lawsuits against the music mogul, plaintiffs filed suits under the pseudonyms Jane Doe or John Doe, facing opposition from Combs’ lawyers.

Similarly, in his criminal case, in which he was accused of racketeering and sex trafficking, the defense argued that prosecutors should reveal the names of the accusers who are part of the case. The only one listed in the indictment was identified as “Victim 1,” although prosecutors say there are several.

“Without clarity from the government,” his lawyers wrote in a letter to the presiding judge, “Mr. Combs has no way of knowing what allegations the government is using for the purposes of the prosecution.”

Sexual assault accusers have long sought anonymity in the courts and in the media. The flood of allegations during the #MeToo movement brought a much broader social understanding of fears of retaliation and social stigmatization, making protocols in American media that withhold the names of accusers become even more entrenched.

That commitment was illustrated last month when country star Garth Brooks identified an anonymous accuser in court documents. Few, if any, media outlets published his name.

Ensuring anonymity in civil court can be much more challenging. So far, at least two judges in U.S. District Court in Manhattan have rejected requests from plaintiffs to remain anonymous in lawsuits against Combs, who has denied sexually abusing anyone.

In one case, in which a Jane Doe plaintiff said Combs raped her in 2004, a judge found the accuser’s fears of physical retaliation or psychological harm from disclosing her identity were speculative and insufficient. Even in cases where courts do not require a plaintiff to be publicly identified, the defendant is often given the name of the accuser.

“The norm is that people have to sue under their own names,” said Eugene Volokh, a law professor who studies anonymity in courtrooms. “And that’s true even when there’s a very good reason not to.”

Although U.S. civil courts are more likely to grant anonymity in sexual assault cases than in other litigation — especially when the charges involve minors — Volokh and other experts said judges still often rule in favor of a defendant’s argument for a fair and open trial.

In recent years, courts have rejected requests to proceed anonymously in sexual assault cases against Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, citing the “constitutionally built-in presumption of openness in judicial proceedings.”

“This goes to the heart of our justice system and what has been the norm since the birth of our country,” said Imran Ansari, a lawyer for Weinstein. The plaintiffs in the Weinstein and Spacey cases have decided to withdraw their claims rather than reveal their identities.

Still, in some contexts, courts have taken into account the mental anguish that plaintiffs say they will experience if their names are made public — especially in an era of intense internet exposure — and considered the argument that refusing to protect An accuser’s identity could discourage others from reporting sexual abuse.

“One can imagine someone who is coming forward with a sexual assault allegation who has children and relatives who don’t even know about it,” said Douglas Wigdor, an attorney who represents multiple accusers in Combs’ cases. “The potential psychological harm and stigma associated with this leads some — but not all — clients to want to act like Jane or John Doe.”

In a recent case against actor Cuba Gooding Jr., a judge allowed the plaintiff to proceed as a Jane Doe for nearly three years, citing the plaintiff’s account of depression and suicidal thoughts that she said stemmed from the alleged sexual assault, which Gooding denied.

But before the trial was scheduled to begin last year, the judge ruled that the plaintiff would have to reveal her identity publicly, suggesting that continued anonymity could influence jurors who might mistake the court’s acceptance of her privacy as an endorsement of your report. The case was resolved soon after.

Combs, who has denied the criminal charges and is awaiting trial in a New York prison, now faces lawsuits from at least 17 plaintiffs who filed suits under pseudonyms. Most of the anonymous filings came from a legal team led by a Houston lawyer, Tony Buzbee, who has been soliciting clients through social media and a hotline.

Buzbee said he intends to file a large number of pseudonymous lawsuits “until the court tells us otherwise.” The lawsuits allege a series of sexual misconduct, including accusations of drugging and raping people. Several come from plaintiffs who say they were minors at the time.

“The majority of our clients still fear retaliation and have conditioned advancement on anonymity,” Buzbee wrote in court documents. Combs’ lawyers described the flood of civil claims as an “onslaught of baseless allegations that desperate plaintiffs are hurling at him (most often anonymously) in civil suits designed to extract a payment from Mr. Combs and others.”

Several of the cases have received temporary approval to proceed anonymously until Combs’ lawyers have the opportunity to respond and the justices can more substantively consider arguments from both sides.

Legal scholars say there are broad inconsistencies in how civil courts across the country handle the issue of anonymous plaintiffs, making outcomes largely dependent on the inclinations of individual judges. “The courts resolve this differently, with very little logic or reason,” Volokh said.

The issue is best resolved in criminal court, where the names of alleged victims of sexual abuse are regularly withheld from the public, and the media has long refrained from identifying them. In their indictment against Combs, prosecutors identified Casandra Ventura, Combs’ ex-girlfriend who publicly sued him last year, simply as “Victim 1.”

The government accused Combs of sexually abusing several unidentified victims, and prosecutors resisted defense demands to identify them. In court filings last week, the government argued that it was premature to release those names six months before Combs’ trial, which is scheduled to begin in May.

Ultimately, in a criminal case, these witness identities often become clear to the defense as part of pretrial discovery, although the government may seek to delay by arguing that naming the people would place them under threat.

Anthony Capozzolo, a former federal prosecutor, said that in extreme cases, a judge may suppress the identity of a witness until shortly before he or she testifies at trial, but typically, the defense learns the names several weeks or months before the case begins. .

Some judges go a step further to protect identities by allowing witnesses to testify under pseudonyms in public court proceedings. In the sex trafficking cases against R. Kelly and cult leader Keith Raniere, some victims were not identified by their full names in court.

In civil cases, those who argue that plaintiffs should be identified point to instances where the accuser’s disclosed identity has led others to come forward with information useful to the defense.

That reasoning was cited in a ruling this year in a Combs case in which a woman who accused him of participating in a 2003 gang rape was told she must reveal her identity if the case proceeds. The presiding judge noted the plaintiff’s fears that she would be traumatized if her identity were revealed, but found that these concerns were not sufficient to justify possibly suppressing evidence crucial to Combs’ defense.

There is a lot to ponder on both sides, which experts said likely played a role in the inconsistency of court rulings on the issue of anonymity. Reputations, livelihoods and essential freedoms are at stake.

“Having anonymity as a plaintiff is a powerful tool,” said Jayne Ressler, an associate professor at Brooklyn Law School who studies the issue. “The courts recognize that and are trying to balance that power.”