What to know about the sex trafficking trial

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• A former girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs, identified by the pseudonym “Jane,” is expected to return to the stand after breaking down during testimony last week in which she described encounters with sex partners during alleged “hotel nights” that she said could go on for multiple “rounds.”
• Jane has testified that Combs was paying her rent and continues to pay her rent. She is one of four accusers referred to in the government’s indictment that alleges he ran his business empire as a criminal enterprise and exploited the women through his financial support.
• 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’ lawyers request mistrial for second time

Lawyers for Combs have — for the second time in two weeks —called for a mistrial, as he faces charges of sex trafficking and other alleged offenses.

On Saturday, his legal team wrote to the judge asking for the mistrial, for what they claimed was “prosecutorial misconduct,” alleging that prosecutors knew that one witness’s testimony was false.

Court is now is session

Court is now in session kicking off Day 19 of Combs’ trial. 

Combs is wearing khaki pants and a white long-sleeved shirt today. Upon entering the courtroom, he looked through some papers in a folder and sat down at the defense table.

‘Jane’ back on the witness stand

The witness returned to the stand this morning, wearing a white jacket as lead prosecutor Maurene Comey continued the government’s direct examination

‘Jane’ was worried about Combs using his phone for sex videos

The witness said she was concerned about Combs taking explicit videos of her on his primary two cellphones because others on his team knew the security codes to get into the devices.

She testified that she asked him to make sure to lock it.

Combs took another woman on yacht trip he promised ‘Jane,’ she says

“Jane” testified that Combs had promised to take her on a yacht rip after a hotel night. 

She then noticed on social media Combs went on the yacht trip without her and with someone else. She said she voiced her frustrations and Combs was dismissive.

They later met at a hotel and he tried to calm her down and claimed there was no sex, but on a podcast he allegedly boasted about the trip and how much sex he had with the woman. 

‘Jane’ texted Combs that she didn’t want to be ‘used and locked in a room’

The court was shown text messages “Jane” sent to Combs after being upset that he apparently lied to her about going on a yacht trip with another woman.

Jane texted Combs in 2023 that she didn’t want “to be used and locked in a room to perform and fulfill your fantasies.” On the same day, she wrote that she didn’t want to fly to New York to “be a hoe for the millionth time” in a hotel room.

‘Jane’ felt like she had to ‘perform’ for the rent

With Combs paying her rent, “Jane” said there was a sense of obligation to “perform” regular sex acts for the defendant.

She felt “guilt trippy things” associated with living under the roof paid for by Combs, the witness testified.

The arrangement “made me feel like I had to perform” sex for housing, Jane said. A text message she sent to Combs was shown in court in which she wrote, “I’m doing things that make me feel disgusting with myself.”

‘Jane’ said she had to have sex with ‘cowboy wearing heels’ at Trump hotel

“Jane” said she was growing tired of having sex with strangers at Combs’ behest and a 2023 incident with a “cowboy wearing heels” was particularly upsetting.

Her voice cracked with emotion explaining how she thought she was going to have private time with Combs for dinner and shopping, but was instead directed to meet Combs at the Trump International Hotel & Tower New York.

“He gave me ecstasy,” she recalled. “I was in lingerie and this new surprise was coming, the man came, then Cabrel came.”

She and the male sex worker had intercourse in front of Combs, Jane said. He was paid in cash, according to the witness

‘Jane’ said she told Combs ‘I am not a porn star’

By October 2023, “Jane” said she had reached boiling point with Combs’ demands for her sexual performances.

Combs had texted Jane to say he was missing her and the witness interpreted that as his next request for her to have sex with a stranger.

“I said call someone else, I am not a porn star,” Jane testified. “That is exactly how I felt.”

‘Jane’ says she and Combs got into fight over arranging another sex party

“Jane” testified that she and Combs got into an argument after he asked her to set up another “hotel night” when he was spending time with another woman.

She told the court that Combs texted her because he wanted her to reach out to men to set up another night while they were in Los Angeles. But Jane noticed online chatter that he was with another woman, which set off an argument, she said.

Texts between them dated Oct. 15, 2023, show that Combs insisted Jane not say no to him. She responded that he made it very clear what he wants from her.

‘Jane’ tearfully recalls telling Combs she wanted to stop having sex with other men

“Jane” testified that she grew frustrated with the pressure on her to earn the most basic things from Combs, such as love and respect.

She told the court that Combs seemed to give this freely to other people, but for her it felt impossible. Jane said that she spoke to Combs about not wanting to have sex with other men, telling him that she wanted to make him happy but that it was creating a war inside of her.

Combs told her that’s not what he wanted from her, Jane said, and she responded that she needed a break.

Jane put her head down during this testimony and wiped away tears shortly before the court went on break.

‘Jane’ says Combs would ‘love bomb’ her whenever he wanted ‘hotel nights’

When “Jane” began to distance herself from Combs via texts in October 2023, he wrote back that he wanted to see her and that they didn’t have to have sex, according to messages shown in court.

But Jane called out Combs in her response, writing that she knew he was going to spend the day “love bombing” her, but that she has hit a wall. Asked to explain love bombing, Jane testified that Combs would shower her with love and affection to an overwhelming point.

An article from the Cleveland Clinic explains love bombing as a “form of psychological and emotional abuse” and is used as a manipulation tactic.

It was a pattern from Combs whenever he wanted to have hotel nights, Jane told the court.

‘Jane’ said she told Combs she was tired of being treated ‘like an animal’

By October 2023, “Jane” said she had become more vocal about her disdain for having to perform sex acts with strangers at Combs’ behest.

Jane testified that she told the defendant: “You treat me like an animal.”

The witness said she needed a break from Combs and was tired of having “to do all the dirty s—” for him.

‘Jane’ recalls throwing up while having sex with 3 men

“Jane” said Combs once made her have sex with three men during an October 2023 rendezvous at the L’Ermitage Beverly Hills Hotel.

She didn’t recall the name of the first man, but the second man was named Paul and the third was named Sean. She said she had to leave to go throw up.

Jane recalls Combs coming to check on her and then telling her to return to the party. She called the evening “absolutely terrible.”

‘Jane’ said Combs would use her home ‘as leverage’

The witness said she couldn’t just leave her relationship with Combs in October 2023 despite her objections to sex with strangers.

At the heart of the matter was the financial control “Jane” said that Combs had over her by paying the rent at her home.

It was “like the home was being used as leverage,” the witness said. In a text message to Combs displayed in court, she accused him of “threatening the roof over my head.”

‘Jane’ on seeing herself in Combs’ sex tapes: ‘I saw me being high … following a pattern’

“Jane” said she’s viewed the footage Combs shot and kept of her having sex with strangers.

“I saw me being high, I was following a pattern, the pattern that I thought he wanted to see,” she testified. “It was like a show over and over again.”

During this whole time, Combs insinuated that these ongoing orgies were done on her own free will. When asked in court if she in fact consented to the “hotel nights,” Jane said she was “still trying to figure that out.”

‘Jane’ said she fainted when she saw Cassie’s lawsuit

“Jane” said she fainted after Combs’ former girlfriend Cassie Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against the music mogul, recognizing the civil complaint matched her own experiences with him.

“I almost fainted,” Jane said after learning about the lawsuit. “In fact I think I did.”

Jane sobbed in recounting her reaction to Ventura’s allegations.

“There were three specific pages that was just a harrowing reference to what I was experiencing,” she said. “I was just bewildered, just in shock.”

Cassie’s lawsuit was like reading ‘my own sexual trauma,’ ‘Jane’ says

Jane testified that Cassie Ventura’s lawsuit read like a play-by-play of the “sexual trauma” that Combs allegedly inflicted on her.

“I reacted like I can’t believe I am reading my own story,” she said.

Ventura’s civil complaint read “word-for-word” of the abuse she also endured, the witness said.

“I feel like I’m reading my own sexual trauma,” Jane wrote in a 2023 text message, confronting Combs.

Conversation between ‘Jane’ and Combs after Cassie’s suit recorded without her knowledge

Prosecutors entered into evidence a recorded conversation between the witness and Combs that was taken from the cell phone of Combs’ chief of staff, Kristina Khorram.

“Jane” told the court that she didn’t know she was being recorded during the phone call, which occurred days after Cassie Ventura’s lawsuit was filed in November 2023. In the recording, Combs is asking Jane what he can do to make her feel better and telling her that his love is “true.”

But Jane is confused, telling him that she feels sick to her stomach after reading Ventura’s suit. She told Combs that he made her feel so manipulated and that she didn’t know what to do with her feelings.

Combs told her that everything they did, they did it “together.” At one point Jane is heard telling him that the timing was crazy and felt chilling.

Jane is cut off by Combs when she starts to say that, just a week ago, “I was telling you.” But Combs then interrupts and says he cannot be on the phone.

Combs asked ‘Jane’ to ‘pray for me’ in recorded phone call

Combs pleaded for Jane’s support in the light of the damaging Cassie Ventura lawsuit, according to a recorded phone call.

“I just needed to tell you I need your friendship, you know you ain’t gotta worry about anything else, baby, please pray for me,” Combs said. “I will be praying for you, I need your friendship.”

Judge Subramanian adjourned the court for lunch and asked jurors to return before 1:15 p.m. EDT.

Combs appears happy to see his mom in the courtroom

As courtroom personnel and spectators filed back into the room and prepared for the post-lunch session, Combs spotted his mother Janice Combs.

When he saw her, the defendant turned toward her and mouthed: “I love you, mommy.”

Texts show ‘Jane’ breaking away from Combs at the end of 2023

Prosecutors showed a series of messages between “Jane” and Combs in December 2023, shortly after Cassie Ventura and months after Jane expressed displeasure at Combs’ insistence she have sex with other men.

In one message, Jane writes to Combs that she is crying and troubled, insisting that she no longer wants to do “those nights” with him. She urges him to hire prostitutes rather than emotionally hiring women who love him.

Later that month, Jane texted Combs that he was never satisfied. Combs wrote back that he didn’t want to fight and asked her how to move forward.

Jane told the court that, after Ventura’s suit was filed in November 2023, she didn’t see Combs until February 2024. She testified that they were on a break.

‘Jane’ said it was best for her mental health to stay away from Combs

The witness told Combs in late 2023 that she needed to stay away from him, accusing the music mogul of gaslighting her.

In a series of text messages shown to the court room, “Jane” said it was best for her to stay clear of Combs, who didn’t seem to understand her need for this distance.

“I wrote that because he was trying to work my reality again,” Jane said. “Every time I would speak the truth or tell him how I was feeling, he would move on from whatever I was talking about.”

‘Jane’ said she had suicidal ideation at the end of Combs relationship

“Jane” testified to the court that she had suicidal ideation at the end of her relationship with Combs, and that she expressed to Combs that she would kill herself.

She believed that Combs would use and break her and that she hated her life. She wrote to Combs that he was done with her and that she just wanted to die.

When asked why she wrote these messages by the prosecution, Jane cried so hard that her answer was difficult to understand.

Combs threatened ‘Jane’ with sex tapes, she says

In late December 2023, Combs threatened to release sex tapes of “Jane” and show them to her baby’s father, the witness testified.

She said that Combs kept calling her and pressuring her as their relationship devolved. Jane told the court that he told her he had nothing to lose by releasing tapes from the “hotel nights.”

Jane texted Combs’ employee, Kristina Khorram, to alert her to the situation, an exchange that was entered into evidence. Jane wrote that she was traumatized from her experience with Combs and wanted space, but that Combs thinks she was going to blackmail him.

She wrote that Combs was threatening to expose sex tapes in which she was heavily drugged and begged Khorram to talk sense into him. Khorram responded with reassurance that nothing would happen, Jane told the court.

‘Jane’ says she joined OnlyFans platform to ‘not rely on anyone’

The witness said that she joined the OnlyFans platform in early 2024. The platform is popular with sex workers, who can sell explicit content of themselves to subscribers.

“I just wanted to reclaim having my independence and not rely on anyone and stand on my own two feet,” she told the court.

‘Jane’ says she had sex in front of Combs in February 2024

“Jane” told the court that she had sex with another man, in front of Combs, in Miami in February 2024 — after having vowed to steer clear of the defendant.

While this admission could damage Jane’s narrative that she was being controlled by Combs, the government is trying to get ahead of the defense by having the witness recall the rendezvous first.

Earlier during the trial, an expert on domestic abuse testified that victims regularly stay in toxic relationships or go back to them, believing there are no better options.

‘Jane’ says her home was raided by HSI, Combs paid for her lawyer

“Jane” told the court she was still living in a residence paid for by Combs in March 2023, when Homeland Security Investigations raided multiple residences belonging to Combs.

HSI agents arrived at her home at the time, Jane testified. She told the court she called Combs’ head of security to alert him of the matter.

Jane said she was represented by two different lawyers, both of whom were paid for by Combs.

Sex worker wanted $10,000 for sex tape, ‘Jane’ says

A sex worker asked for $10,000 to keep a sex tape of himself and “Jane” kept under wraps, she said.

The man, identified only as Cabral, said Combs shot the video using the former’s cellphone, thus giving the sex worker easy access to the footage, according to Jane.

An undisclosed media company purchased the footage, Jane said, but the explicit video has not been publicly shown.

Combs claimed hotel incident was the only time he assaulted Cassie, ‘Jane’ says

Combs invited “Jane” to a huddle he convened last year to address the fallout from CNN’s release of the 2016 InterContinental hotel video, in which Combs was seen assaulting Cassie Ventura.

Jane told the court that Combs was attempting to come up with a response, at one point denying the video, but eventually posting an apology video to social media. Later, when she and Combs spoke about the video, Jane said he told her that it was the only time he had engaged in physical violence with Ventura.

Combs also told Jane that Ventura was a hitter, according to Jane. When asked if Combs told Jane he would hit Ventura, Jane said, “I think so, yes,” but could not recall specifics.

‘Jane’ testifies about long, brutal beating at the hands Combs

“Jane” recalled a long beating she suffered at the hands of Combs last summer, just three months before he was arrested.

The two were at her home on June 18, “a very terrible day,” she said before recounting the horrific, violent details of their confrontation.

It started when they argued about Combs seeing a woman at least 25 years his junior, leading to Jane calling him a “pedophile” and slamming his head into a marble kitchen counter, she admitted.

That’s when Combs flew into a rage, with him kicking in doors to her master bedroom and then the closet where Jane was trying to hide, the witness said.

As she fled, Combs kicked her in the back of the thigh, bringing her down so he could start choking her, Jane recalled. She managed to escape into the neighborhood and lingered for two hours in hopes Combs would leave, but he did not, Jane said.

She ended up back at the house in the backyard where she curled in a ball, protecting her head, Jane said, as Combs kicked and punched her.

Altercation with Combs left ‘Jane’ with golf ball-size welts, she says

After Combs found her, “Jane” testified that he dragged her by her hair back to the house’s patio.

She told the court that she punched Combs in the forehead, telling him that she hated him. Combs then allegedly punched her on her forehead and her eye area, Jane said.

Jane testified that she saw later that night she had two golf ball-sized welts on her forehead where Combs had punched her.

Combs forced ‘Jane’ to take drugs have sex with another man after beating, she says

After an elongated beating, “Jane” said she and Combs ended up back in her house where he forced her to take ecstasy and have sex with another man as he watched.

Combs said, “is this coercion” before making Jane take ecstasy, the witness said.

Then he had Anton, a sex worker they’d hired before, come to the house.

“I had to perform oral sex on Anton, it just felt like forever,” she said. “Sean was watching, I just felt disgusted, I felt terrible.”

Court sees photos of 4 doors allegedly damaged by Combs

Prosecutors showed photos of four doors allegedly damaged by Combs during his altercation with “Jane.”

“Jane” said Combs damaged her closet door, bathroom door, bedroom door and guest room door. Photos showed a crack down the center of the guest bedroom door that Combs caused by kicking it, according to Jane’s testimony.

‘Jane’ says Combs threw water in her face after night of Miami partying

“Jane” and Combs reconciled enough for the pair to meet up in Miami, where they spent 24 straight hours partying and having sex, the witness said.

But when she asked to go to sleep after that round-the-clock action, Combs threw water in Jane’s face and called her a “bitch,” Jane said during her testimony.

She apologized and took an ecstasy pill, which turned his mood around before they invited Paul, a sex worker they’d previously hired, to drop by, according to the witness. He came to them 1 1/2 days later, when she sprayed MDMA into his mouth and they had sex in font of Combs, Jane said.

‘Jane’ says she prays for Combs’ well-being

When asked how she feels about Combs now, “Jane” said she prays for him.

“I pray for his continued healing and pray for peace for him,” she said.

Judge Subramanian then dismissed jurors for the day.

S: NBC News