What to know about the sex trafficking trial

– LIVE UPDATES – 

• A friend of a former girlfriend of Combs testified yesterday that Combs held her over a 17th-story balcony in 2016 before throwing her onto the balcony’s furniture. Bryana Bongolan will return to the witness stand today for more cross-examination.
• 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.

Combs closely watched jurors and evidence yesterday

Combs closely watched the jury in court yesterday when they first took their seats and was attentive during testimony. Much of yesterday was spent looking at security footage and cellphone videos, and he peered at the monitor before him.

Testimony from Bryana Bongolan resumes

Jurors entered the court and witness Bryana Bongolan returend to the stand for continued cross-examination by defense lawyer Nicole Westmoreland.

With the late start this morning, U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramanian reminded jurors that the lunch break would come later than usual and will be shorter.

Defense questions Bongolan on drug use with Cassie after Combs threatened her

Bryana Bongolan testified that she continued to do drugs and associate with Cassie Ventura even after when she says she was threatened by Combs.

When asked if she was scared, Bongolan responded: “I guess not.”

Defense continues challenging Bongolan’s memory of balcony dangling incident

Combs’ lawyers continued the same strategy as Wednesday, calling into question Bongolan’s memories of the 2016 dangling incident.

When defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland pointed out that she had previously said Cassie Ventura witnessed the incident, Bongolan responded with, “I don’t recall.”

Bongolan also said she suffered from nightmares from the incident, even as recently as a few days ago.

Bongolan says some of the claims made by her lawyer against Combs were ‘incorrect’

Bryana Bongolan said some of the allegations made by her lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn, against Combs were incorrect, including a claim that he grabbed her breast so hard he left bruises.

Bongolan said she did not remember all the claims made by Blackburn, but told defense lawyer Nicole Westmoreland that some of them were “incorrect.”

Bongolan questioned about lawsuit claiming sexual assault

Bongolan was asked about a lawsuit her attorneys filed claiming she was sexually assaulted by Combs.

She said she was aware of the claim. When asked if she thought the only way to file a lawsuit was to say Combs had sexually assaulted her, Bongolan said: “I don’t recall.”

Bongolan says she kept in contact with Combs after alleged balcony dangling

Combs’ defense returned to a common refrain of cross-examination, reminding witnesses they kept socializing with him even after claiming they’d been victimized by the music mogul.

Bongolan admitted to defense lawyer Westmoreland that she shared a blunt with Combs following the balcony incident.

Though Bongolan insisted she was trying to maintain some distance with Combs.

Bongolan returned to scene of dangling incident

Bongolan testified she returned to Cassie Ventura’s apartment within two weeks of Combs allegedly dangling over a balcony edge.

Ventura invited Bongolan back to her place for an overnight stay of drinking, smoking and cooking, a text message chain showed.

Bongolan admitted she said yes and returned to the scene of Combs’ assault on her.

The defense’s cross-examination seems to either dispute or minimize the dangling incident by showing Bongolan did not appear worried about returning to that locale.

Bongolan says she continued to hang around Combs to ‘be cool’ with him

Bongolan testified that she continued to hang around Combs after he dangled her over a balcony edge because she was “trying to be cool” with him.

Defense accuses Bongolan of lying about balcony incident

The defense insisted Combs was in New York City on the day that Bongolan claimed she was dangled over a balcony in Los Angeles.

Combs’ attorney, Westmoreland, showed a hotel receipt that appeared to show her client was at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Manhattan between Sept. 24 and Sept. 29 in 2016.

Bongolan claimed she suffered injuries when Combs dangled her over the balcony of Ventura’s L.A. apartment on or around Sept. 26.

And in a dramatic showdown, Westmoreland said: “You came in here and lied to the jury, isn’t that true?”

Bongolan replied: “I can’t agree with you.”

‘I will never forget him holding me on that balcony,’ Bongolan testifies

Bongolan said she has “no doubt” that Combs dangled her over a balcony edge and wanted to testify “to seek justice.”

She said that although she does not remember every single detail, there are moments she will never forget.

“I will never forget him holding me on that balcony,” she said, telling the court that she was “terrified.”

Bongolan leaves the witness stand following late fireworks

Cassie Ventura’s friend finished her testimony in the wake of Combs’ side accusing the witness of lying.

The defense implied in questions that Bongolan couldn’t have been dangled over an L.A. balcony in 2016 because Combs was in New York City at that time.

Combs’ lawyer also accused Bongolan of suing Combs because it was her opportunity to become a millionaire. But Bongolan held firm on the stand, saying she was telling the truth: “I care about justice.”

Bongolan left the witness stand and Judge Subramanian declared the court to be in recess until at least 1:30 p.m. ET.

Judge threatens to remove Combs from court for interacting with jurors

Judge Subramanian threatened to kick Combs out of court for allegedly flashing facial expressions at jurors.

Combs was nodding and looking at the panel during recent testimony which is “absolutely unacceptable,” Subramanian admonished.

Subramanian asked defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo if this would happen again.

“No your honor, it’s not going to happen again,” Agnifilo replied.

An animated Subramanian made admonished the defense, saying, “This cannot happen again.”

Combs spotted making faces at jury since start of trial

Court artist Jane Rosenberg, who has had her eyes and binoculars on Combs for more than a month, tells NBC News that Combs has been making facial expressions at jurors since the start of the trial.

Combs has been attempting to interact with various members of the jury, both affirmatively and negatively depending on the testimony, Rosenberg said. Several NBC reporters and producers have witnessed the same.

Government calls investigative analyst to the stand

Enrique Santos, an investigative analyst for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, was called the witness stand.

He’s an expert at pulling data from cellphones, tablets and other devices with GPS technology.

Ventura let key Combs aide know about alleged dangling incident

Santos only testified briefly about extracting data from cellphones, including deleted messages. In one such message from Cassie Ventura’s phone, Ventura informed Combs Enterprises chief of staff Kristina Khorram about the 2016 incident when he allegedly dangled a woman over the balcony.

Ventura implied that she didn’t witness the alleged attack but seemed to believe it really happened.

“This is crazy,” Ventura wrote, according to the text messages admitted through Santos. “I have to stay away.”

The text message could bolster Bongolan’s testimony and help prosecutors push more of the case away from Combs personally, and closer to his company and a possible act of racketeering.

Witness known as ‘Jane’ has been called to the stand

The government has called the witness testifying under the pseudonym “Jane” to the stand.

Judge Arun Subramanian told the jury they will know her real name, but it will not be mentioned publicly to protect her privacy.

“That doesn’t give her greater or lesser weight of any other witness,” Subramanian told the jury.

Jane said on the stand she was in a relationship with Combs from 2021 to 2024. She wore a brown suit and blouse to court.

‘Jane’ and Combs gave each other the code names of ‘Bert and Ernie’

When “Jane” first met and flirted with Combs, they came up with code names for each other, she said.

“We exchanged numbers,” she said. “And that’s when we said we should have a nickname, he said Bert and I said Ernie.”

A text message exchange between the two was later introduced where they said “Hi, Bert” and “Hi, Ernie.”

Bert and Ernie are, of course, best friends from “Sesame Street.”

‘Jane’ testifies that Combs gave girls a pink powdery substance

“Jane” testified that Combs gave a pink powdery substance to a group of girls during a Miami trip in 2020.

“One of the girls requested drugs and somebody brought the drugs,” she testified.

Jane said she then walked with Combs to a studio where they encountered another man and saw the drugs. Jane said she asked if the drugs were safe.

“And I remember both of them looking at me like, kind of just gave me this look like, yeah, this is the best,” she said.

Jane said Combs took the pink powder back to the pool and gave it to the girls.

‘Jane’ fell ‘head of over heels’ for Combs in Miami

The witness recalled a five-day first date with Combs in Miami in early 2021 as she fell “head over heels” for the music mogul.

“Lots of love, made love, it was just amazing,” said ‘Jane.’

“I remember it was like morning time and we just decide to go for a walk on the beach.”

‘Jane’ testifies about ‘screaming’ after Combs gave her ecstasy

‘Jane’ testified to using drugs with Combs while on a trip to Turks and Caicos in February of 2021.

It was their first trip together in celebration on her birthday.

“We were at the pool, and he said ‘here take this’ and I took the whole pill. I was walking down the beach with him and it just hit me and I fell to the sand,” she testified. “My body was just convulsing and I was screaming, I said, ‘help me.”

She said Combs took her back to the shower to calm her down.

“I started to subside after that, we were taking it every day and I would take small doses, Sean decided.”

She said he gave her ecstasy.

It “made me feel relaxed, euphoric, sexual, even more loving, it lasted about 12 hours, after the 12 hours I would say we would take something to relax or go to bed,” Jane testified.

‘Jane’ says drugs, including ketamine, were a constant in her sex life with Combs

‘Jane’ said she did drugs — including ecstasy, cocaine and ketamine — every time she saw Combs in February and May of 2021.

The witness said she enjoyed her sex life with Combs, in 12 or 24-hour-long romps that often included baby oil.

Combs kept huge supplies of baby oil, authorities said, which was used in his alleged sexual abuse of victims.

But at this point in their relationship, Jane said, she was engaged in consensual sex with Combs.

‘Jane’ tearfully recalls first time she had sex with another man as Combs watched

The witness began tearing up when she said she recalled Combs first arranging for her to have sex with another man.

“He said we can make it happen tonight and I said, ‘tonight?’ I was taken aback but I said ‘OK,’ ” she said of a May, 2021 encounter.

When asked by the prosecution if she thought she was going to have sex that night with another man or if she wanted to have sex with someone other than Combs, ‘Jane’ responded, “No and no.”

“We went to hotel room a couple of hours later, I saw assistants setting up the room, getting his room ready, there was a bustle of getting this room ready.”

Prosecutors said Combs operated a criminal enterprise to, in part, have these “freak offs” when he wanted.

‘Jane’ said her first ‘freak off’ opened a Pandora’s box in relationship with Combs

‘Jane’ testified that the first time she had sex with another man as Combs watched in May of 2021 opened up “Pandora’s box” in their relationship.

“Just completely set the tone for our relationship going forward,” she said. “I felt like it was a door I wanted to shut.”

She said Diddy immediately began requesting more of the “freak offs.”

Asked what percentage of the time she had sex with another man while in a relationship with Combs, “Jane” responded 90 %.

She said she repeatedly told Combs she did not want to have sex with other men, but would eventually relent. “I was agreeable because I wanted him to be happy, turn him on, and satisfy my partner,” she told the court

‘Jane’ said Combs threatened her financially if she refused to have sex with other men

The witness said she had no choice but to keep having sex with other men for Combs’ enjoyment, because “he was paying my rent.”

‘Jane’ — a single mother — made it clear that if she didn’t agree to these sexual demands, their relationship would be over and she’d have to find somewhere else to live.

“I felt an obligation because I knew he was paying my rent,” she testified.

These sex acts were also called “debauchery or hotel nights,” Jane added.

‘Jane’ describes marathon ‘hotel nights’ that could last for more than a day

“Jane” said “hotel nights” with Combs and other men could last between 24 and 30 hours with no sleep.

The witness gave very graphic and detailed testimony about her exact role in these hourslong sex sessions and the direction she’d receive from Combs.

Travel and prep for ‘hotel nights’ was extensive, including dozens of baby oil bottles, ‘Jane’ says

Combs went to extraordinary lengths to make travel and hotel arrangements for his exotic trips with “Jane.”

Typically, the planning included Combs’ travel agent, assistants and others to secure hotel stays, suites, red lights, music, lotions, alcohol, bed sheets, blankets and towels, “because of the excessive use of baby oil,” “Jane” testified.

“I would say two dozen or more bottles of baby oil,” she said of her trips to Turks and Caicos, Miami, Los Angeles and New York between May or 2021 and October of 2023.

Court adjourned for the day

Judge Subramanian adjourned court for the day, asking jurors to return tomorrow before 9 a.m.

Subramanian told jurors there could be some longer days next week, perhaps with testimony lasting to 5 p.m., to make up for lost time.

S: NBC News