What to know about the sex trafficking trial

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• Prosecutors say they will begin today by calling Eddy Garcia to the witness stand. Garcia worked as a security supervisor at the Los Angeles hotel where Combs was filmed attacking Cassie Ventura in March 2016.
• 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.

Court is in session

Court is now in session on Day 15 of Combs’ racketeering and trafficking trial.

Others expected to testify today

Frank Piazza will testify today, followed by either Derek Ferguson, former CFO of Combs Enterprises, or Bryana Bangolan, who alleges Combs dangled her over an apartment balcony.

Disruptive courtroom spectator removed

A person who was screaming in the gallery was removed from the courtroom shortly after prosecutors complained about the real identity of witness “Mia” being broadcast.

The woman, who appears to be a supporter of the defendant, was cursing as she was taken away by law enforcement.

“Everyone is laughing at Diddy!” said the woman, a regular courtroom spectator who claims to be a transit employee. “It’s not right what they’re doing to him!”

“Escort her out right now!” U.S. District Court Judge Arun Subramanian bellowed, in the first major courtroom outburst of the trial.

There have been disturbances in overflow viewing spaces in the courthouse during this trial, but this is the first such situation in the courtroom itself.

Eddy Garcia takes the stand

Eddy Garcia, the security supervisor at the InterContinental hotel in L.A. in 2016, when Combs beat Ventura, has taken the witness stand.

Garcia took the stand briefly yesterday to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. He was offered an immunity deal to protect him from prosecution so long as he was honest.

Garcia says he didn’t initially recognize Combs in hotel assault video

Garcia didn’t initially recognize Combs or Ventura when watching the video of the March 2016 assault at the InterContinental hotel.

He told the court that he was later notified of their identities. Garcia also testified that law enforcement was not contacted and was told that Ventura did not request medical attention or police.

Combs’ team realized the damage of his taped beating of Ventura, Garcia said

According to Garcia, Combs’ former chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, quickly understood the potential career-ending problems that surveillance video of her boss beating Ventura could cause.

When Khorram asked Garcia for the tape, the witness told her he didn’t have the authority to produce the footage. He then told her to get a subpoena.

Combs said video of Ventura being beaten would ruin his career, Garcia said

Garcia testified that a call from Combs’ team to his personal cellphone number had him nervous and that Combs repeatedly told him he could help regarding the footage of him assaulting Ventura.

Garcia said Combs’ employee, Kristina Khorram, first made the call, but Combs eventually got on the phone himself. He told the court that Combs said the video would ruin his career.

Garcia explained on the call that he did not have access to the server room where the original video was and could not help. Combs offered to take care of him for the video, which Garcia said he believed to mean financially.

Garcia said his boss wanted $50,000 for tape of Ventura’s beating

Garcia testified that Combs desperately wanted a copy of surveillance footage of him beating Ventura at that Los Angeles hotel in 2016 — and implied that he was willing to pay.

The footage sold to Combs had to be the “only copy,” because he didn’t want it getting out, Garcia said. Garcia said he talked to his boss, who was willing to do it for $50,000.

Combs had Ventura on call to reassure hotel security for video sale, Garcia said

Garcia testified that he expressed concerns about selling the only copy of the 2016 assault video, especially if Ventura had filed a police report in the matter.

He told the court that he ended up on a FaceTime call with Combs and Ventura. Combs told Ventura to tell Garcia she also wanted the video to go away, Garcia said in court.

According to Garcia, Ventura then said it wasn’t a good time for the video to come out and wanted it gone.

Garcia’s NDA for Combs footage presented in court

As part of the deal to get Combs’ footage of the hotel beating, Garcia signed a nondisclosure agreement that called for his silence and the destruction of evidence.

According to the NDA presented in court, there were to be no duplicates of footage or stored communications about the incident.

When asked if he read through everything before signing, Garcia said, “No, I was nervous.”

Combs presented hotel security with $100K in a brown paper bag, Garcia said

After the hotel security signed NDAs, Garcia told the court that Combs left and returned to the room with a brown paper bag and a money counter.

Combs put stacks of money into the counter — $10,000 at a time — until it reached a total of $100,000, Garcia testified.

According to Garcia, the original deal for the video with Garcia’s boss was $50,000, but Combs said the excess cash was for the other two security guards.

Garcia, who was making $10.50 an hour, signed NDA with $1 million penalty

Garcia, who was making $10.50 an hour as a security guard, agreed to an NDA that included a $1 million penalty if he breached it.

Garcia received $100,000 for himself and two other employees for helping Combs keep the music mogul’s 2016 hotel beating of Ventura under wraps.

Combs warned hotel guard not to make big purchases, Garcia said

Garcia told the court that Combs asked him if he wanted to count the money he was getting from the video sale and asked how he intended to spend it.

Garcia opted to trust the money counter, he testified, and explained to Combs that he didn’t know what he’d use the $30,000 he was getting from the deal. Combs then warned him not to make any big purchases, Garcia said.

The hotel security guard said he assumed Combs was advising against drawing attention to the money. Garcia added that he didn’t deposit any of the cash into the bank and used the money to buy a used car.

Combs celebrated Easter by making his beating of Ventura go away, Garcia said

Combs had kind words for the security guard who was making sure the damaging footage was disposed of, Garcia testified.

“On Easter, he said, ‘Happy Easter my angel, God is good,’ and then proceeded to ask if anyone had asked about the incident or the video,” Garcia testified about the March 2016 beating. “I said I hadn’t heard anything and he said, ‘OK.'”

Garcia said he later asked Combs about employment possibilities with the defendant’s company. It is not immediately clear if Combs answered.

Garcia says he wasn’t initially truthful with police over 2016 assault

When police began asking about the March 2016 assault at the InterContinental hotel, Garcia said he wasn’t initially honest with investigators.

Garcia testified that he was contacted by law enforcement and wasn’t truthful about his involvement at first. He later got his own attorney and met with the government, where he said he was more forthcoming.

Defense points out NDA didn’t prevent Garcia from speaking with law enforcement

Defense attorney Brian Steel briefly cross-examined Garcia, pointing out a line in the NDA that said Garcia was not prevented from speaking about the 2016 assault in legal proceedings.

This was presumably intended to undermine the government’s potential obstruction of justice, one of the predicate crimes that falls under racketeering.

Prosecutors quickly took up a redirect, however, showing that the NDA requires written notice to the company in those cases. It says this would allow the company to seek options to prevent disclosure.

Garcia testified on redirect that he understood the “company” to be Combs’ company.

Derek Ferguson takes the witness stand

The government called Derek Ferguson, the former CFO of Combs Enterprises, to the witness chair. Ferguson, wearing a suit and tie, said he received a subpoena to appear in court today.

Former Bad Boys CFO sometimes reported directly to Combs, he says

Derek Ferguson, who used to be the chief financial officer for Bad Boy Entertainment, said he sometimes reported to Combs.

Ferguson told the court he held many roles working for Combs from 1998 to 2017, but went into detail on his role as CFO of Bad Boy Entertainment.

He handled budgets and salaries, was involved in deal-making and, at times, was responsible for Combs’ personal finances. Ferguson told the court that he mainly reported to whoever served as president of Bad Boys Entertainment.

At times, there was no president, Ferguson said, and he reported directly to Combs.

Charting out the trail of money

Although most of Ferguson’s early testimony has been procedural, it is potentially crucial to the government’s case.

He’s been asked to verify a laundry list of bank accounts, real estate holdings, credit cards and other financial records connected to Combs Enterprises, and confirm that the defendant had signatory power over these funds.

Though most of the headline-grabbing testimony so far this trial has dealt with sexual abuse and other incidents of alleged acts of violence, Combs’ real problems would be any evidence that he might have run a criminal enterprise to pull off these suspected crimes.

Government seeks action against outlet reporting the ID of ‘Mia’

The true name and identity of key prosecution witness “Mia” are being reported, according to prosecutors who want to ban the outlet that made the information public from court.

Judge Subramanian asked prosecutors to draft a possible court order, and he’d consider it.

Financial records show $20K wire from Ventura’s father

Prosecutors showed financial records from a Combs bank account, including a $20,000 wire transfer from Ventura’s father Dec. 23, 2011.

Ventura’s mother, Regina Ventura, previously testified that Combs demanded the family pay $20,000 to keep him from releasing sexually explicit videos of Ventura after he learned she was seeing rapper Scott Mescudi, also known as Kid Cudi. She also told the court she received the money back days later.

Prosecutors pointed out two other $20,000 transfers that same month while questioning Combs’ former CFO.

The first was an outgoing transfer to Ventura on Dec. 14, 2011, and another to an unspecified entity Dec. 27, 2011.

Former Bad Boy CFO said he wanted to work for Combs as a Bronx native

Combs’ defense attorney Marc Agnifilo took up cross-examination for Ferguson, who worked for Combs between 1998 and 2017.

Ferguson was asked why he was interested in working for Combs’ Bad Boy companies, which included the production company and record label. The former CFO told the court that he felt interested in Combs’ companies because he felt it hired from communities where he was from.

A Bronx native, Ferguson testified that he felt that Combs and his brands gave young executives from those types of communities opportunities.

Combs’ ex-finance chief says he tried to keep track of company taxes

Amid questioning from Agnifilo, Ferguson said Combs’ personal and business expenses were kept separate, and that tax records were closely monitored

“I would do everything I could to make sure it [financial impropriety] did not happen,” Ferguson said.

Former CFO says he didn’t see evidence of alleged crimes

Combs’ former chief financial officer said he doesn’t know of any specific crimes his ex-boss might have committed.

Defense lawyer Agnifilo asked Ferguson several questions, inquiring if the witness had ever seen Combs commit an act of violence, sexual assault, use coercion or enlist the help of an employee to commit an illegal act.

Each time, Ferguson said no.

Ferguson probably gave the prosecution all it really needed from him earlier in his testimony when he confirmed that a $20,000 payment was made from Ventura’s family to Combs.

Ferguson was never in Combs’ home or hotel rooms, he says

The prosecution offered a brief redirect of Ferguson, where the former finance chief was asked to qualify his time with Combs after the defense questioned him on observations of criminal conduct — or lack thereof.

Ferguson testified that he worked in the New York office for Combs’ company and had not spent time in his hotel rooms or private residences with him.

Jury done for the day as attorneys hash out details for the week

The jury has been dismissed as attorneys stay back to discuss additional details on how the rest of the week will go.

Prosecutors are concerned for the identity of Victim-2, who is referred to under the pseudonym “Jane.” They are requesting that her face isn’t shown in the public overflow rooms to avoid publicly outing her as “Mia” was this last week.

“Jane” is expected to take the stand Thursday.

Combs’ attorneys are once again asking for more time with him without a dividing screen because they wish to go over text messages between him and “Jane” that will likely be entered into evidence.

S: NBC News