Resort safety officer testifies Diddy paid $100K to suppress assault video
It is a free article for Diddy on Trial e-newsletter subscribers. Enroll to get unique reporting and evaluation all through Sean Combs’ federal trial.
A lot of immediately’s testimony was spent revisiting Diddy’s March 2016 assault on Casandra Ventura, an incident on the InterContinental Resort in Los Angeles that was captured on safety video and proven to jurors in the beginning of his trial. Eddy Garcia, the resort’s safety supervisor, testified that Diddy and his group desperately wished to get the only real copy of the video and forestall it from getting out. In change for $100,000 divided amongst members of the resort’s safety group, Garcia stated, he signed a nondisclosure settlement that known as for his silence and the destruction of proof.
Right here’s what else to learn about immediately’s testimony:
- Garcia testified that he was so “nervous” concerning the NDA that he didn’t learn all of it earlier than he signed it. Diddy offered stacks of money in a brown paper bag, added Garcia, who stated he purchased a used automotive together with his $30,000 share.
- Garcia additionally stated he wasn’t initially truthful to police when he was requested concerning the assault. On cross-examination, the protection identified the NDA didn’t cease Garcia from talking about it in authorized proceedings, a line of questioning presumably supposed to undermine the federal government’s potential declare of obstruction of justice.
- After Garcia, Derek Ferguson, the previous chief monetary officer of Dangerous Boy Leisure, took the stand to debate the construction of Diddy’s companies and the way cash flowed.
🔎 The view from inside
By Adam Reiss and Jing Feng
For the primary time through the trial, a spectator disrupted the courtroom decorum, prompting U.S. District Decide Arun Subramanian to order courtroom marshals to “escort her out proper now.”
The uproar started earlier than the jury was seated and Garcia took the stand. At first, each prosecutors and the protection group have been discussing with Subramanian displays within the trial and whether or not to supply proof of Diddy’s jail calls. Prosecutors additionally complained to Subramanian that an individual who had been within the courtroom Monday broadcast on YouTube the true id of a authorities witness, who glided by the pseudonym “Mia” when she testified.
Out of the blue, a girl within the courtroom started shouting in protection of Diddy, together with that “it’s not proper what they’re doing to him” and “Diddy’s harmless.” She was rapidly eliminated.
Prosecutors later advised Subramanian that the true identify and id of “Mia” have been being reported and requested for him to ban the outlet that made them public from the courtroom. He stated he would contemplate such a courtroom order.
🗓️ What’s subsequent
Tomorrow: Frank Piazza, a forensic video skilled, and Bryana Bangolan, who alleges that Diddy dangled her over an condo balcony, could testify.
PSA: Each evening throughout Diddy’s trial, NBC’s “Dateline” will drop particular episodes of the “True Crime Weekly” podcast to get you up to the mark. “Dateline” correspondent Andrea Canning chats with NBC Information’ Chloe Melas and particular visitors — proper in entrance of the courthouse. Pay attention right here. 🎧
