The judge giveth and the judge taketh away.
But Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, the Michigan inmate who was awarded $100 million in a lawsuit against entertainment mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs last week, says Wednesday’s Lenawee County Circuit Court ruling that reversed his victory won’t be the end.
“This isn’t over,” Cardello-Smith told metro Detroit attorney David Fink following the virtual hearing. Fink represented Combs, who was arrested on federal racketeering and sex charges in New York early this week, in the civil case.
Judge Anna Marie Anzalone, who made the $100 million judgment in Cardello-Smith’s favor after Combs failed to appear for a Sept. 9 virtual hearing, ruled in agreement with Fink that the statute of limitations for Cardello-Smith’s lawsuit had expired. Cardello-Smith’s complaint stated that he and Combs met in 1997 when Cardello-Smith worked at Fishbone’s Rhythm Kitchen restaurant in Detroit’s Greektown, and that they later partied together at a hotel. Combs drugged and raped Cardello-Smith as other consensual group sex involving women took place, the lawsuit alleged.
A temporary restraining order that Anzalone issued on Cardello-Smith’s behalf in August was set aside after her Sept. 18 ruling. Cardello-Smith, serving an unrelated sentence at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon, generated hundreds of thousands of YouTube views from the hearing in which he successfully argued that Anzalone should prevent Combs from selling assets that might be used to compensate Cardello-Smith in his lawsuit. Combs has been the target of a growing number of claims alleging sexual assault and violence.
Both the temporary restraining order and the default judgment were set aside today after Fink further argued that Combs had not been properly served notice of the complaint. Combs learned about the $100 million award only after Metro Times reported the initial story, according to his defense.
“Also, Mr. Combs has denied every single fact alleged in the complaint,” Fink told Anzalone.
“Your honor, this witness has no credibility,” Fink said, citing Cardello-Smith’s convictions including sexual assault and kidnapping.
“This man has been in court more times than I have.”
Cardello-Smith, who appeared from a meeting room at Earnest C. Brooks, briefly addressed Fink’s accusations by alluding to wrongful conviction and telling the court that his proof of service to Combs’s residence in Los Angeles was evident from postal tracking numbers.
“Sean Combs lived at that address,” Cardello-Smith said. “That is his home, period.”
“That man got that [court notice], that man signed it, and now he’s going to lie through his attorney,” added Cardello-Smith. “His credibility is shot … I’m the prisoner and I have way more credibility than he does.”
Earlier Cardello-Smith had asked for an adjournment, saying he hadn’t been allowed to properly prepare for the hearing since being placed in protective custody after the announcement of his court victory. Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) spokesperson Jenni Riehle confirmed that Cardello-Smith was removed from the general prison population.
“Prisoner Smith was placed in protective temporary segregation at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility on Sept. 10, which he is not provided the opportunity to waive at this time,” Riehle said in a statement. “The facility is currently making a determination on next steps to ensure Smith’s safety.”
But during the initially scheduled Sept. 16 hearing requested by Combs’s defense, Cardello-Smith alleged that MDOC officials had harassed him, altered documents relevant to his court proceedings, and tried to exploit him under the guise of protection. He waddled backwards from a camera in the meeting room to show Anzalone that his limbs were shackled to his waist, which he said hindered his legal work.
Riehle told Metro Times the prison’s warden informed her office that Cardello-Smith was no longer in waist chains Sept. 17, but he appeared shackled at the waist again in court again today.
The Sept. 16 hearing was continued due to what Anzalone said was a lengthy docket of cases that also required her attention, but not before she threatened Fink with a contempt charge as the lawyer kept speaking when she tried to end the proceeding.
The court “has heard many lies from Mr. Smith,” Fink said earlier, including a claim that Combs had visited the prison to discuss a settlement of the lawsuit. Fink presented a visitor log revealing only the names of Cardello-Smith’s lawyer and that of a private investigator since 2024.
Cardello-Smith, who didn’t get to respond Sept. 16, repeated to Anzalone during the Sept. 18 hearing that MDOC officials interfered with his litigation: “They want to alter all sorts of documents if the court doesn’t rule in Mr. Combs’s favor.”
He told the court he’ll file a motion for reconsideration of the Sept. 18 ruling.
Anzalone set a date of Nov. 4 for summary disposition of the case.
