The trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs continues today, with Homeland Security Investigations special agent Gerard Gannon returning to the stand. He is the 10th witness called by the prosecution.
The 55-year-old hip hop mogul is currently facing a number of serious charges, including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was arrested in September and strongly denies all allegations made against him. He has been in prison since his arrest, and a number of bail requests have been rejected.
During his testimony on Tuesday, Gannon said he was responsible for the overall planning of the raid on the rapper’s home in Miami, Florida, in March of last year.
Gannon claimed upwards of “80-90 officers” were involved in the Miami raid due to the size of the mansion and security measures. During the raid, HSI retrieved multiple items, including platform heels, personal lubricant, baby oil, guns, bullets, and more.
Cassie’s mother, Regina Ventura, was among the people who gave evidence. Cassie’s mother made a heartbreaking claim in court, telling the jury she took out a loan to pay Combs as she feared for her daughter’s safety. Diddy’s former assistant, David James, also testified, claiming saw the rapper take drugs and provided him with baby oil, lubricant and condoms for his hotel rooms
Kid Cudi, real name Scott Mescudi, is also expected to testify.
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Recap from Day 7 (Tuesday)
On Tuesday, former assistant to Diddy, David James, said he witnessed the music mogul use drugs before describing his role in stockig hotel rooms for the rapper as well as being subjected to lie detector tests and a search.
Cassie’s mother, Regina Ventura, also testified and said her daughter started visiting her less frequently when she started dating the hip-hop star. She also “memorialised” her daughter’s abuse by taking photos of her bruises. She even said she took out a loan to pay Diddy $20,000 he asked from her.
Meanwhile, a male escort, Sharay Hayes, took the stand and outlined his role in “creating a scene, a sexy scene, that was enjoyable” with Cassie and Diddy.
Special agent Gerard Gannon also spoke about the Miami raid of Diddy’s house and detailed the items he and his team found there.
Diddy in courtroom
Cassie’s mother took to the stand earlier that day
On Tuesday, Cassie’s mother, Regina Ventura, took the stand. Prosecutor Emily Johnson asked Regina Ventura to identify Combs in a photo and explain how she knew him.
“He dated my daughter,” she replied. Regina said she first met Combs in 2006 when her daughter, Cassie Ventura, signed with his record label, Bad Boy Records.
She said when her daughter and Combs started dating in New York City, she’d see her daughter about three or four times a year.
Regina said she saw Cassie less frequently when she moved to California with Combs, usually around the holidays.
“It was harder to get to her,” Regina said.
Kid Cudi expected to testify
Prosecutor Maurene Comey said Scott Mescudi, also known as Kid Cudi, is slated to testify.
After Gannon finishes his testimony, the next witness will be Dr Dawn Hughes followed by George Kaplan. Mescudi will testify after Kaplan.
Homeland Security agent continuing testimony
Gerard Gannon, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, will continue to testify today.
On Tuesday, he told Madison Smyser with The United States Attorney’s office he was positioned near the evidence van during the search of Diddy’s Miami mansion to be able to see the evidence being retrieved.
He claimed he was responsible for viewing every single item that came into the van, which was then taken to an office where he went through it and organised it into categories.
The jury was shown photos of items found in one of the wardrobes in the master bedroom of Diddy’s Miami Beach home.
Special Agent Gannon testified that agents found platform high heels, sex toys, baby oil, personal lubricant and lingerie. They also found “upper and lower receivers of AR-15s,” which are parts of a weapon, Gannon said.
He said that two complementary AR-15 “upper receiver” gun barrels were found separately wrapped inside a white towel. Gannon held up an evidence bag holding the AR-15 upper receivers in court. He said there are zip ties securing the gun so it’s not able to be fired.
Agents also found two magazines loaded with bullets in Diddy’s wardrobe, Gannon testified. The jury was shown photos of the items, including their serial numbers scratched out. Gannon said: “It’s a lot more difficult, or impossible,” to determine the owner of a firearm without a serial number.
He then showed the jury a photo of items found in one of the closets in Diddy’s master bedroom. It showed lingerie and several boxes of platform high heels.
He then held an evidence bag with platform high-heeled shoes from the closet.
Source: Mirror
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