Where the sex trafficking trial stands

– LIVE UPDATES – 

• David James, Combs’ former personal assistant, took the witness stand today, followed by Cassie Ventura’s mother, Regina Ventura, and a male exotic dancer Sharay Hayes, whose nickname is “The Punisher.”
• Regina Ventura said she documented Cassie Ventura’s bruises, allegedly received at the hands of Combs; once called police on Combs when he took Cassie’s phone; and that Combs demanded $20,000 in exchange for a sex tape with Cassie on it.
• The government is expected to call Combs’ former chef, Jourdan Atkinson, to the stand today.
• 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 in court

Combs arrived in court this morning wearing a sweater over a white shirt.

David James and attorneys arrive at court

David James, Combs’ former personal assistant who will testify today, was seen arriving at court shortly after 8 a.m. 

Other arrivals this morning include attorneys for Combs: Anna Estevao, Xavier Donaldson, Alexandra Shapiro, Teny Geragos, and Brian Steel.

Court is now in session

Court is officially in session, kicking off day seven of Combs’ trial.

David James returns to witness stand

David James returned to the witness stand for his second day of testimony. He appeared to be wearing the same blue suit and white shirt as yesterday.

James said Combs searched his computer history for a blog post on Cassie abuse

David James said he didn’t witness any physical violence between Combs and his former girlfriend, but testified that he did see a blog post alleging that Combs hit Cassie at a club.

Combs allegedly searched James’ computer history and became upset, telling James that someone was lying. The former assistant called it “jarring” because Combs had never searched his computer history before.

James looked for the post, he said, because Cassie had been staying at the London hotel for a week and he was tasked with bringing her food. But Combs’ personal staff was the one answering the door.

“I was surprised, I was expecting to see Cassie,” James said. “She usually answered the door.”

Cassie testified last week that Combs put her up in the London hotel after allegedly attacking her in the back of a car while leaving an event. She told the court that she didn’t feel as if she could leave and that Combs’ security was present.

Standard overnight bag in Combs world: $10,000 cash and Viagra

James told jurors that Combs didn’t travel light and had a long laundry list of items to be packed in his overnight bags.

The music mogul’s Louis Vuitton regularly carried $10,000 in cash “and sometimes much more,” James said.

Combs’ medicine bag included 25 to 30 undisclosed pill bottles along with Advil, Tylenol, Viagra, “pills to increase sperm count,” and water pills, James said. He later added that Percocet and ecstasy were in the medicine bag and that he witnessed Combs taking them.

The witness also said he was instructed to buy baby oil, Astroglide and condoms for trips in cash so that Combs could reimburse him, personally, off the company books.

Former assistant saw Cassie in hotel bed and a stranger while Combs showered

Combs brought in FBI lie detector specialist to question assistant, James said

Combs brought in a lie detector test and conducted it on James at least twice while James worked as his assistant.

James told the court that in his first year working for Combs, some money went missing and Combs had a former FBI agent who specialized in polygraphs to interview him.

“It was very intimidating,” James said. “I had never taken a lie detector test before.”

He added that the second time he took a lie detector test was after a watch went missing. James also testified that Combs’ security searched his clothes and drawers when a Cartier bracelet went missing.

Combs kept video of assistant dancing at New Year’s Eve party

James recalled how he once got high on ecstasy at a New Year’s Eve party, and Combs allegedly kept a video of James dancing at the party.

“‘OK, I will keep it if I need it,'” James said, quoting his then-boss. “He thought it would be embarrassing for me.”

This minor detail could help prosecutors build their greater narrative that Combs allegedly used his business to control people in his sphere.

Suge Knight incident prompted assistant to quit

James said he was “shook” after seeing the desire by Combs’ team to grab guns and confront Suge Knight at a Los Angeles diner in 2008.

The witness recalled an incident when the team was out getting a late snack at Mel’s Drive-In when Combs’ confidante D-Roc spotted the Death Row Records chief there and said, “That’s mother f—ing Suge Knight.”

James said that Combs’ team met up with the music mogul back at his house and he armed himself with three handguns to go and possibly confront Knight. The incident, James testified, is what prompted him to quit.

“I was really shook up by it,” James said. “This was the first time as his assistant that I realized my life was in danger. I told them I want to leave but give six months notice so I could train the next assistant.”

Cross-examination pushes deeper into Suge Knight incident

Diddy’s defense attorney, Marc Agnifilo, took over David James’ cross-examination. He started by asking James why he didn’t provide more details on the Suge Knight incident.

James responded that the story stopped because he was instructed “not to say anything that would incriminate himself.” Agnifilo asked about a prior statement in which James said he was inside the diner, but James said he didn’t remember it.

The ‘mundane’ is appreciated in this courtroom

In a trial filled with lurid and disturbing details of sexual abuse, the promise of “mundane” questions was welcomed in the courtroom.

In his cross-examination of James, defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo told the witness that he had “a few more mundane questions.”

“I like mundane questions,” James answered, drawing laughter from the gallery.

James recalled how much he admired Combs and his desire to work for him.

“I wore (Combs clothing line) Sean John early on,” James recalled. “I was studying abroad in London in 2004, people would come up to me and say where did you get Sean John from and I understood his global reach, his brand. I wanted to work for him, he was successful, self-made, a brilliant marketer.”

Security worried Combs would be shot, James says

Combs’ security detail often included a second car when the rap mogul was traveling, David James said, as his team was “suspicious” of anyone “pulling up on him to shoot him.”

James testified that people often would try to touch Combs or ask for his autograph, which his former boss wouldn’t sign. He said staff would sign items and send them out on Combs’ behalf.

“I don’t think gracious is a word I would use to describe him,” James said.

The security detail would also tell James, “you know what rhymes with tired? Fired.” Though James said he admitted to Combs he was tired once after running a red light, but James did not get fired for it.

Witness testifies with protection, though no crime is apparent

James disclosed he was testifying under an agreement with prosecutors, though there’s been no evidence so far that he would need legal protection.

The defense has been pushing James to disclose any deals he might have made with prosecutors to testify, particularly about the “Mel’s Diner incident” when Combs and his team allegedly armed themselves to look for rapper Suge Knight.

James said he had signed a proffer, a legal agreement that generally protects witnesses from prosecution for what they say on the witness stand.

But so far, there’s been no evidence any crime was committed against Knight by Combs’ team on the early morning trip to Mel’s Diner in Los Angeles that would indicate James needs protection from prosecutors.

Defense pushes James on altercation with Combs’ personal chef

David James testified to an argument that turned physical between himself and Combs’ chef, after which Combs’ told James that “you can’t put your hands on a woman.”

James told the court he was in Miami in Combs’ kitchen when the chef told him how to do his job. The former assistant admitted to grabbing her wrists and telling her “to stay in her lane.”

“Mr. Combs heard about it and called me to his room,” James said. “I told him what happened and he said, ‘You can’t put your hands on a woman.'”

It was one of two occasions when Combs warned James that he could be fired, James testified. The other time was when James smoked marijuana, he said.

James said he did not follow Combs’ order to report chef to police

Combs didn’t always get along with his former personal chef Jourdan Atkinson, James said.

After one physical confrontation between Combs and Atkinson in Alpine, New Jersey, Combs asked James to report Atkinson to police, James said.

“He told me to make a police report that Chef Jourdan hit him first,” James testified. “I did not file it because I did not want to make a false report. I went out and came back and told him I made the report.”

Cassie’s mom, Regina, takes the stand

Combs’ former personal assistant is finished testifying, and the government has called its next witness, Regina Ventura.

Cassie’s mom has been sworn in, and prosecutor Emily Johnson will begin the questioning.

Cassie’s mom says Combs wanted $20k for Cassie sex tape

Prosecutors revisited an email Cassie sent to her mother, Regina Ventura, in December 2011 that said Combs threatened to release explicit videos of Cassie after he learned she was dating Kid Cudi.

“I was physically sick,” Ventura said. “I did not understand it, the sex tape threw me. He was trying to hurt my daughter.”

She testified that Combs wanted $20,000 for the video. Ventura said Combs was “angry” that he had spent money on Cassie and that she was with another person.

“We took a home equity loan and that was the only way we could get the money,” she said.

Cassie’s mother says she documented her daughter’s injuries

Regina Ventura said she took photos of her bruised daughter, Cassie, in late 2011 to make a record of the alleged beatings at the hands of Combs, Cassie’s boyfriend at the time.

“She was bruised and I wanted to make sure we memorialize it,” Ventura told jurors about the photos taken that December.

Cassie’s mom called police after Combs took her daughter’s phone, she says

Defense declines to cross-examine Regina Ventura

Defense attorneys chose not to cross-examine Cassie’s mother, Regina Ventura, allowing her damaging testimony to stand uncontested.

Defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said, “I do not have any questions for you.”

Ventura’s testimony about Combs threatening Cassie over a sex tape and abuse was left uncontested.

Male exotic dancer, nicknamed ‘The Punisher,’ takes the stand

The government’s next witness is a man named Sharay Hayes.

Hayes, 51, works as an exotic dancer who goes by the name “The Punisher.”

Male stripper chronicles first sexual encounter with Cassie, Combs

The male stripper nicknamed “The Punisher” said he was paid $800 to create a “sexy scene” for Combs and Ventura, all while keeping eyes off the music mogul.

Hayes said he was called to a Trump Tower hotel suite in the fall of 2012, and was greeted at the door by Ventura “wearing a bathrobe and nothing on underneath and she had a wig.”

He was handed a “sack of money” with $800 inside as Ventura told him to “create a sexy scene of me and her applying baby oil on each other and create a sexy environment that her husband would come up on,” the witness said.

 “She said do not acknowledge her husband, try not to look at him and no communication,” Hayes added.

‘The Punisher’ says he was hired up to a dozen times

The first encounter with Casssie and Combs led to a healthy tip and more gigs, Hayes said.

“She said, ‘Thank you, that’s what we wanted,’ and I was handed additional money. I counted it at the elevator and it was $1,200,” Hayes said of that first encounter at Trump Tower. “I now know he is Mr. Sean Combs. I was contacted a second time to go to the Essex House.”

In total, Hayes estimated he performed for the couple from eight to a dozen times.

He said he was called to the first rendezvous by a woman who called herself “Janet,” but it didn’t take long for him to realize who his clients were — one of the biggest names in the music industry and his well-known girlfriend.

“Further along the line, I saw his face. He would wear a baseball cap and I noticed his face. Ironically, I am a fan and follow him on Instagram,” Hayes said of Combs.

Hayes said he got the nickname “The Punisher” as a teenager because of his prowess on the basketball court.

Police called over Combs’ chef being fired in 2008, records show

David James, Combs’ former personal assistant, testified earlier today that the mogul once asked him to file a police report alleging Combs’ personal chef assaulted him.

James told the court he didn’t do it because he didn’t want to make a “false report.” The incident occurred in Alpine, New Jersey, according to James, but a date was not given.

Records of 911 calls to Combs’ former Alpine residence obtained by NBC News show that police were called March 22, 2008, over an issue with Combs’ personal chef. It’s unclear if this was the same incident James was referring to when he didn’t file a report.

A man named David James told police the chef was fired and left upset but “stated that there were no threats” made by her, according to the report. Police advised Combs and James that it was a civil matter.

“Mr. Combs was satisfied and just wanted to make this a matter of record due to his celebrity status,” the report said.

Cassie appeared to be a willing player in sex scenes, stripper says

In a dozen or so sexual performances, Hayes never had the sense Cassie was uncomfortable with it all, he testified.

The sex worker agreed with defense attorney Xavier Donaldson’s leading questions that Cassie wasn’t in any “discomfort” while performing in front of Combs.

“It seemed like it was consensual as far as I was concerned,” Hayes said, agreeing with Donaldson’s description of Combs as a “director” of the scenes.

Prosecutors push back on Cassie’s emotions during sex scenes

In a brief redirect, Hayes was asked more about Cassie’s time during their sex scenes with Combs.

Prosecutor Meredith Foster asked about the “one time” Cassie appeared to enjoy herself but asked Hayes about the other times where she would apparently “wince” and “sigh.” Foster asked whether Cassie’s focus was on Combs.

Hayes said that there was a “consistent awareness” to Combs and “his perception and his desires of the moment.”

Hayes then left the witness stand.

Federal agent who raided Combs’ Miami home takes witness stand

Special Agent Gerard Gannon, the government’s 10th witness to date, has taken the stand.

Gannon worked for Homeland Security Investigations and was responsible for the overall planning of the raid on Combs’ Miami home on Star Island.

Agent walks jury through Combs’ Miami property raid

Prosecutors brought up photos of Combs’ Star Island home as Special Agent Gerard Gannon explained how agents executed search warrants on the Miami property.

He told the court the property’s extensive size required dozens of people to search the 20,000-square-foot home. He noted that agents cleared the house and were assigned in teams of two to search each room.

Photographers were taking photos of items before they were bagged with a description of each item and where it was found. Gannon said it was his job to compile an itemized list and that he went through every piece of evidence to break it down into categories.

Court has adjourned for the day

Court has adjourned for the day and will reconvene tomorrow morning.

S: NBC News