The defense sought to have Combs unshackled during his court appearances and the judge agreed to it. Combs appeared pleased to walk in so freely. He smiled at people in the audience and hugged each of his lawyers.
Combs had other reasons to smile after Judge Arun Subramanian ordered federal prosecutors to destroy several pages of Combs' handwritten notes they had obtained from a raid carried out at MDC-Brooklyn, where Combs is being held without bail.
"The government should not be in possession of the 19 pages," Judge Subramanian said at the end of an hour-long hearing.
Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo held a stack of notepads, folders and papers that were initially seized from Combs' bunk and pointed out that Combs "has handwritten the word 'legal'" on them. He argued every page from the stack is subject to the attorney-client privilege.
"Virtually every single thing in these legal pads are matters he discusses with his attorneys," Agnifilo said. "This has been a complete institutional failure."
A member of the prosecution team disagreed.
"Self-labeling something 'legal' does not automatically make it subject to the attorney-client privilege," the prosecutor, Christy Slavik, said. "The government received these materials through a completely appropriate channel."
Prosecutors cited Combs' notes in their argument against granting Combs bail, saying they left a "strong inference" that Combs had paid off a potential witness.
The judge said he would no longer consider the example when he decides whether to release Combs on bail during a hearing Friday.