Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie to testify as star witness in intercourse trafficking trial | Hollywood

Video proof depicts Combs attacking Cassie Ventura

*

Combs accused of drug-fueled intercourse events, blackmailing girls

*

Home violence not the identical as intercourse trafficking, protection says

By Jack Queen

Might 13 – Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, a rhythm and blues singer often known as “Cassie,” is predicted to testify on Tuesday because the prosecution’s star witness within the hip-hop mogul’s intercourse trafficking case, a day after jurors noticed a video of Combs hitting and kicking her in a resort in 2016.

Prosecutors say Combs lured girls into romantic relationships, compelled them to participate in days of drug-fueled intercourse events after which blackmailed them with movies he recorded of the encounters.

Combs “viciously attacked” girls once they resisted participating within the events, often known as “Freak Offs” or in any other case upset him, prosecutor Emily Johnson mentioned throughout her opening assertion on Monday in Manhattan federal court docket.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not responsible to 5 felony counts of racketeering conspiracy, intercourse trafficking and transportation to interact in prostitution. If convicted on all counts, he faces a compulsory minimal sentence of 15 years and will face life in jail.

Combs is understood for turning rap and rhythm and blues artists like Infamous B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige into stars, and within the course of elevating the mainstream attraction of hip-hop in American tradition within the Nineties and early 2000s.

His attorneys say prosecutors need to criminalize the rapper’s “swingers” way of life by which he and his girlfriends invited different males to affix them for intercourse.

Protection lawyer Teny Geragos conceded to jurors on Monday that Combs had a foul mood and jealousy issues however mentioned this had nothing to do with intercourse trafficking or racketeering.

“Home violence isn’t intercourse trafficking,” Geragos mentioned. “He’s not charged with being a flawed particular person.”

Prosecutors launched the video of Combs and Ventura on Monday, the primary day of proof within the high-profile trial.

Within the video, Combs throws Ventura to the bottom and kicks her within the hallway of a Los Angeles space resort as she tries to enter an elevator.

Combs, carrying solely a towel, is then seen grabbing Ventura’s belongings and dragging her into the hallway. Combs apologized after the video first aired on CNN final 12 months.

Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lead lawyer, has mentioned the 2016 resort incident depicted the aftermath of a dispute over infidelity. In a court docket listening to on Friday, Agnifilo mentioned Ventura had a historical past of home violence, signaling he plans to make use of that to undermine Ventura’s credibility with jurors.

Over the course of a two-month trial, jurors are anticipated to listen to testimony from Ventura and two or probably three of Combs’ different feminine accusers, in addition to his former workers who prosecutors say helped prepare and canopy up his actions.

Johnson instructed jurors they’d hear testimony from victims who mentioned Combs routinely beat them and exploded with rage on the smallest slights.

“They are going to inform you about a number of the most painful experiences of their lives. The times they spent in resort rooms, excessive on medication, wearing costumes to carry out the defendant’s sexual fantasies,” Johnson mentioned.

A male stripper testified on Monday that he had intercourse for cash a number of occasions in 2012 and 2013 whereas Combs watched and masturbated.

Stripper Daniel Phillip recounted an episode in a New York Metropolis resort the place Combs threw a liquor bottle in Ventura’s path, grabbed her by the hair and dragged her screaming into one other room.

Protection lawyer Teny Geragos mentioned on Monday that prosecutors have been making an attempt to twist Combs’ romantic relationships right into a racketeering and intercourse trafficking case.

“Sean Combs is an advanced man, however this isn’t an advanced case. This case is about voluntary selections made by succesful adults in consensual relationships,” Geragos mentioned in her opening assertion.

This text was generated from an automatic information company feed with out modifications to textual content.