Where the sex-trafficking trial stands

• Cassie Ventura faced her second day of cross-examination from Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyers today.
• Defense attorneys today continued to attempt to portray Ventura as a loving partner and willing participant in the “freak offs,” and attempted to link the volatility of her relationship with Combs to drug use and jealousy.
• Combs has been very involved with the cross-examination of Ventura. He is leaning in to read the transcript on the monitor and passing notes down the line to be handed to his defensive team.
• Combs faces five criminal counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has vociferously denied the allegations against him.
• Judge Arun Subramanian let both sides know again displeasure with continuing objections voiced by prosecutors and the disjointed presentation by defense lawyers that’s keeping the eight-month-pregnant Ventura on the stand.

Prosecutors oppose showing video of Combs thanking God in rehab

The government opposed the introduction of video showing Combs strolling through a natural setting and speaking of his faith.

“Out here, going for a hike in the morning, nature and God,” Combs tells the camera in footage that defense lawyers said was sent to Ventura while he was in rehab, a month after the 2016 Los Angeles hotel assault.

“Want to wish you a great beautiful day. My thing today is to approach everything with grace and calmness and love and God in my heart. I want you to know I’m growing. I want you to grow with me. Love you”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson objected to the video: “It should be kept from jury and goes to nullification.”

The judge will allow Ventura to view it and answer questions but jurors will not see it.

Ventura tells Combs she’s no ‘rag doll’ to be knocked around

Days after she was beaten up in a Los Angeles hotel by Combs, Ventura told the rapper she wouldn’t stand for being treated like a “rag doll.”

The witness read a March 9, 2016, text message she sent to Combs telling him, “when you get f—- up the wrong way,  you always want to show me you have the power to knock me around,  i am not a rag doll, i am someones child.”

While this next message paints yet another unflattering picture of Combs, the defense could potentially cite it as an example of Ventura understanding her agency and freedom to walk away from him.

An angry Combs swiped phones and other possessions, witness says

Combs’ anger often led to Ventura losing access to her car and phone, the witness said.

Asked if Combs exhibited this kind of behavior when he was jealous, Ventura said it could be any number of things that could trigger her then-boyfriend’s ire.

“He would take it (her cellphone) when he was angry about something,” she said.

“He took my phone, my car, my watch when he was angry,” Ventura later added.

Cassie and Combs discussed video of hotel assault over text

Cassie Ventura says she learned there was a recording of her from the InterContinental Hotel in L.A., where Combs physically assaulted her, while she was in Sedona, Arizona, coming down from illicit drugs.

Combs’ attorney noted that Ventura was concerned the video might have been from a “freak off.” He added that “Combs was encouraging you to get to the bottom of it” with one of his security staffers who was with Ventura in Arizona.

“This is crazy don’t let him out of your sight,” Combs texted Ventura.

Ventura acknowledged that she texted Combs back that she didn’t see why it was so crazy.

Jury hears of Ventura’s intense fear about ‘freak off’ video being released

The jury hears an audio recording of Ventura angrily asking a man if he had a sex tape depicting her in a “freak off.”

“I want to f——- see that, it is my f—— life and I will kill you,” she said. “If you have it pull it up or I will kill you and he will kill you again. I am tired of you talking s—. You said you have it, you are playing games.”

Should Cassie Ventura be compelled to testify again on Monday?

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian had harsh words for the defense on Thursday over what he perceived as a prolonged cross-examination of key witness Cassie Ventura.

The judge was particularly agitated about the possibility that the defense might not conclude their questioning of the eight-months pregnant Ventura before week’s end.

This will certainly be an issue during Ventura’s testimony today, as it may be difficult for the defense to complete their cross, the prosecution to complete their redirect, and the defense to complete any re-cross, all in one day.

The Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees each criminal defendant the right “to be confronted with the witnesses against him.”

“A district court should afford wide latitude to a defendant in a criminal case to cross-examine government witnesses…” At the same time, the “Confrontation Clause [does not] prevent a trial judge from imposing any limits on defense counsel’s inquiry in cross-examining a prosecution witness.”

Should Cassie Ventura be compelled to testify again on Monday?, continued
In other words, the court has broad discretion in this area.

In my opinion (admittedly, as a biased defense attorney), the prosecution has the burden in this case, and they chose a witness who they knew would be eight-months pregnant at the time of trial.

Of course Ventura’s health is important, but another day on the stand to protect Combs’ rights is a minimal additional intrusion.

If the testimony continues to Monday, it should continue to Monday. If Ventura goes into labor over the weekend, any resulting mistrial is, respectfully, on the prosecution, not the defense.

Ventura sought therapy, but not for sex or love addiction

Ventura said she once spent 45 days being treated for traumatic memories, but not for anything connected to an addiction to love or sex.

She was treated at Willow House in Arizona where therapists help “you recount memories, it is part of the trauma therapy,” Ventura said during her cross-examination.

“It helps you process them and helps you recount memories. They hook you up to a machine and it regulates your brain waves,” she added. “It lets you complete a trauma that I cut off.”

But Ventura said she wasn’t treated for any addiction to love or sex, which would presumably be behind her staying in an abusive relationship with Combs.

Judge, again, chastises lawyers for not picking up the pace

Yet again, Judge Arun Subramanian let both sides know his displeasure with continuing objections voiced by prosecutors and the disjointed presentation by defense lawyers that’s keeping the eight-month-pregnant Ventura on the stand.

“We are not going to proceed in this fashion,” Subramanian said. “A few ground rules: You say objection, you must say the grounds.”

He added: “In terms of admitting exhibits, why is there confusion among the parties about what is admitted and what is not admitted?”

Subramanian has said he wants Ventura’s testimony to be concluded today.

Ventura admits she once suggested hiring a woman for ‘freak off’

The defense showed Ventura a 2010 text message in which she seemed to suggest to Combs that they bring a woman, instead of a man, to their regular “freak off” sessions.

“Yes that’s what I’m suggesting,” Ventura said under cross-examination.

The defense has conceded that Combs is prone to violent and boorish behavior. But his lawyers insist that Ventura and other alleged victims were consensual adults, with agency to make their own decisions and thus were not trafficked for sex as the government claims.

Cassie says Combs raped her after dinner

Cassie Ventura said Combs invited her to Burning Man in 2018 after they had broken up.

She was now dating her soon-to-be husband Alex Fine, but joined Combs for dinner at an Italian Malibu restaurant, after which Ventura alleges Combs took her home, went inside her apartment and raped her.

Ventura said during the dinner Combs seemed different.

“He was acting strangely, yes,” Ventura testified.

Combs heavily involved with cross-examination of Ventura

Sean Combs has been very involved with the cross-examination of Cassie Ventura. He is leaning in to read the transcript on the monitor, passing notes down the line to be handed to his defensive team, specifically, to Anna Estevao, and whispering with attorney Marc Agnifilo.

Cassie says she had consensual sex with Combs after she said he raped her

Cassie Ventura said she had consensual sex with Combs shortly after she says he raped her.

The consensual encounter occurred during September, she said, while she was dating her soon-to-be husband Alex Fine. Ventura said she FaceTimed Fine sometime during that evening.

After the encounter, Ventura testified that she texted Combs that she had a great time.

Ventura added that, after she told Fine that Combs raped her, Fine punched a hole in the wall.

Cross-examination of Ventura is over

Comb’ defense finished its cross-examination of Ventura, bringing her a step closer to leaving court.

She’s now subject to re-direct examination by prosecutors and then another possible round of questions by the defense. But it’s fair to say, she’s closing in on the end of her testimony.

The defense ended its questioning of Ventura asking her to read a text message exchange she had with Combs in September, 2012. Combs asked if she wanted to engage in one last “freak off.”

Ventura responded that she didn’t “want to freak off for the last time, I want it to be the first time for the rest of our lives.”

Combs calls Cassie ‘the greatest woman in the world’ in 2019 email exchange

Sean Combs congratulated Cassie Ventura on her pregnancy and described her as the greatest woman in the world during a 2019 email exchange.

“You will make a beautiful mother, God bless,” Combs wrote before wishing her a blessed day, his defense attorney told the court as they concluded their cross-examination.

Ventura thanked Combs, told him that she missed him and hoped he was taking care of himself.

“Means a lot it, means more than you know please know I am always here if you need me,” Combs wrote to Ventura. “I pray for the day we can sit down and I can let you know all the things I am reflecting on, I thank God for the time we had together.”

Combs said Ventura was “the greatest woman in the world.”

Ventura responded, “I don’t hate you, I never have.”

Prosecutors begin second round of questions for Cassie

After a day and a half of being questioned by Combs’ attorneys, the government just began its second round of questions for the key witness.

Right off the bat, prosecutors appear to be attempting to counter how the defense has painted Ventura — as a willing participant in Combs’ “freak offs” and content in their relationship.

Ventura testified that while there were times when Combs was “kind” and “loving,” “those periods didn’t last.”

“I was opened up to a world of chaos and his lifestyle and I wanted approval,” she added. “It was a whole other world. I didn’t know or understand at the time. It was a lot.”

Ventura considered herself a ‘sex worker’ for Combs

The government’s key witness said she considered herself a “sex worker” serving Combs, in a dramatic — though officially stricken-from-the-record — moment of the trial.

Ventura said that “freaks offs” with Combs became so frequent, it impacted her career as an aspiring singer and actor.

“I had a whole other job, basically a sex worker,” she told prosecutors in re-direct testimony.

The defense objected to that answer and Judge Subramanian told jurors to disregard Ventura’s statement — though it was impossible to un-hear.

Any implication that Ventura was anything but a consenting girlfriend could boost the government’s narrative that Combs allegedly ran racketeering operation, using employees and his power to move victims across state lines to engage in sex and prostitution.

Ventura: Raped by Combs before having consensual sex with him

The witness testified that Combs raped her in August of 2018 before she had consensual sex with him a short time later.

The prosecutor Johnson asked if she had any doubts that Combs sexually assaulted her nearly seven years ago and the witness said, “no (doubts).”

Johnson then asked Ventura if she had consensual sex with him just a few weeks later and she replied, “yes.”

Combs would become violent if Cassie left ‘freak offs’ without permission

Cassie Ventura told the jury that Combs would become violent if she attempted to leave a “freak off” without permission.

“He would get violent, it would be horrible,” Ventura alleged in the courtroom. 

She also described Combs beating at her at the Intercontinental Hotel.

“During the ‘freak off’ he hit me in the eye and I left before he said it was over,” Ventura testified. “He followed me to the hallway and he dragged me back, he was wearing a towel and socks.”

Combs’ attorneys start re-cross examination of Cassie Ventura

During its re-cross examination of Cassie Ventura, the defense is trying to show that being with Combs gave Ventura entry into a world of celebrities and musicians that she otherwise would not have been able to obtain.

His attorney, Anna Estevao, noted that Ventura went to the Met Gala and had unprecedented access to producers because of her relationship with Combs.

“You said it was a world of chaos? Freak offs, drugs and partying? By being with him you could meet other people in the entertainment industry and go to fascinating places,” Estevao said.

Being with Combs opened all sorts of doors, Ventura says

The defense had Ventura admit there were all kinds of career benefits to being Combs’ girlfriend.

Ventura said she attended the Met Gala with Combs, got “a lot of studio time” through the rapper and met many influential entertainers such as Kid Cudi, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross.

Ventura expects $10 million settlement from hotel over beating captured on video

The witness’ legal team is still negotiating a settlement with the hotel over the 2016 Los Angeles hotel assault, which was captured by security cameras.

“I do not know the exact number, I think $10 million maybe?” she said under cross-examination.

A deal has not been struck yet, she said, but an eight-digit payout is the expectation.

Ventura was excused from the witness stand moments later.

“Have a great weekend,” the judge told Ventura, who is eight months

Cassie Ventura excused from the witness stand

R&B singer Cassie Ventura, the star witness for the prosecution in the federal trial against Sean “Diddy” Combs this week, has ended her dramatic and often emotional testimony, and is now gone from court.

U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramanian wished Ventura well.

“Have a great weekend,” the judge told eight-month pregnant Ventura before the court entered recess.

Cassie’s attorney said testifying showed her character

Doug Wigdor, Cassie Ventura’s attorney, said she performed well on the witness stand.

“To be able to come into this courtroom and testify for the last week on this very graphic subject is a true testament to her character,” Wigdor said outside the courthouse after Ventura’s testimony concluded.

Asked about Ventura’s testimony such as not hating Sean Combs and still having love for him, Wigdor responded, “It’s a complex situation.”

“I think we all know and can appreciate that there are many women, as I’m speaking here today, who are abused by people who they love.”

He added, Ventura and Combs shared a 10-year relationship.

“I think she readily admitted that there were some good times in that relationship,” Wigdor said. “But that doesn’t, that does not permit someone to do the things that she testified to to her and to control her and to subject her to the physical and mental abuse that she suffered.”

Cash, pills and ‘mood lighting’ found at Combs’ hotel room

Lubricants, cash, pills and “mood lighting” were seized by authorities as they arrested Combs at a New York City hotel nearly eight months ago, a federal agent said.

Prosecutors had Homeland Security Investigations special agent Yasin Binda detail the items seized from Combs, who had been in Room 2115 of the Park Hyatt hotel on West 57th Street.

Items taken by agents included plastic bags with Johnson & Johnson Baby Oil and Astroglide, a bottle of the drug Klonopin and $9,000 cash, the agent said.

They also found a lighting device that Binda said: “I would describe it as potentially mood lighting.”

Former Bad Boy singer testifies she saw Combs strike Ventura with a skillet full of eggs

Dawn Richard, a former member of Danity Kane, an all-girl group Diddy created on MTV “Making the Band”, testified that she saw Sean Combs physically assault Cassie Ventura inside his Los Angeles home in 2009.

“He came downstairs, asking where his phone was and he threw her to the ground,” Richard alleged, adding Combs struck Ventura with a skillet full of eggs.   

Richard, who was later part of a trio with Diddy called “Dirty Money”, said she was at the home recording music when the attack occurred.

“He attempted to kick her, she fell to the ground and went into the fetal position, literally trying to hide her head,” Richard told the court.

Richard said Combs put his arm around Ventura’s neck, dragged her upstairs and then heard glass breaking.

“I was scared for her, I was scared to do anything,” Richard testified.

Judge dismisses jurors and tells them to watch sports this weekend

U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramanian sent jurors home for the weekend, thanking them for their role in preserving democracy and urging them to watch basketball and baseball.

“We know how hard it is for you, your families, for everyone,” Subramanian told the panel. “You are the bedrock for democracy. We will keep working over the weekend. Watch the Mets, Yankees, Knicks … see you on Monday.”

The judge asked jurors to return to court at 8:30 a.m. on Monday.

 

S: NBC News