Day three of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ trial is set to get underway as the disgraced rapper faces a number of charges, including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The 55-year-old was arrested in September and strongly denies all allegations made against him. He has been in prison since his arrest, with a number of bail requests rejected.
On Tuesday, his former partner Cassie Ventura took to the stand where she faced the 12 jurors who were sworn in at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse in lower Manhattan on Monday.
Prosecutors said Combs coerced women into drugged-up group sexual encounters he called “freak offs,” “wild king nights” or “hotel nights.” Partway through her questioning, Ventura was in tears.
She had been asked what she enjoyed, or if she enjoyed anything about the Freak Offs, when she burst into tears. She said: “The time spent with him,” was what she felt was the only time she could spend with Combs.
She told the court: “I felt disgusting. I was humiliated. I didn’t have the words to put together at the time how horrible I really felt, and I couldn’t talk to anybody about it.”
Here, we are bringing you the live updates from the courtroom as the trial continues…
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Combs’ family arrive
What to expect today
Prosecutor Emily Johnson has said she will be questioning Ms Ventura about her 10-year relationship with Combs. That is expected to last half the day, before defence laws will begin their cross examination.
Footage of hotel altercation released
Video footage of Combs seeminly attacking Cassie Ventura was shown in court yesterday. The CCTV clip was taken in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
CNN aired the video last year, as Combs apologised and said he was “disgusted” by his actions.
In court, first witness Israel Florez gave his tesimony as they clip was played. He worked as a security guard at the hotel at the time.
He told the court he recognised Combs, who was wearing only a towel and socks, after responding to a call of a woman in distress on the sixth floor. Mr Florez told the court he had “a blank stare, like a devilish stare, just looking at me”.
He said that as he was escorting Ventura and Combs to their room, she indicated she wanted to leave. Mr Florez said the rapper told her: “You’re not going to leave.”
Cassie took ‘all kinds of drugs’ to numb herself
During her testimony, Ventura claimed she took various drugs in a bid to numb herself. She said: “For me, it was dissociative and numbing. I couldn’t imagine myself doing any of that without having some sort of buffer or just way to not feel it for what it really was.”
She claimed that Combs provided the drugs, and his staff would drop them off on occasions. She claimed: “Someone would drop off drugs to me, wherever I was.”
Combs ‘frequently’ assaulted Cassie
After the jury had viewed the CCTV footage of the Los Angeles hotel incident, prosecutor Emily Johnson asked how many times Combs had beaten her in this way. Ventura responded: “Too many to count, I don’t know.
Hotel altercation
Recalling the altercation she had with Combs at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, Ventura said: “It got violent and I chose to leave.
“Sean followed me into the hallway by the elevators. He grabbed me up, threw me on the ground, kicked me, tried to drag me back to the room, took my stuff.”
The incident took place during a Freak Off, with Ventura telling the court: “I’m not sure what happened, but I got hit by Sean and I had a black eye, and at that point all I could think about was getting out of there safely. I had my premiere, I didn’t want to mess it up, so I left.”
Freak Offs explained by Cassie
While on the stand yesterday, Ventura spoke about the Freak Offs.
She told the court: “It was established pretty early on in doing the Freak Offs that Sean [Diddy] enjoyed a lot of conversation and describing.” She then said they would start with “oil and touching”.
What will happen today?
Cassie Ventura will take the stand again for day three and will answer more questions from the prosecutors.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson expects Ventura to finish her direct examination on Wednesday. The judge advised those on the jury to turn off notifications relating to the case in order to avoid reading about the proceedings.
Source: Mirror
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