The public knew Sean “Diddy” Combs as a larger-than-life music and enterprise mogul, however in personal he used violence and threats to coerce ladies into drug-fueled sexual encounters that he recorded, a prosecutor stated Monday in opening statements at Combs’ intercourse trafficking trial.
“This is Sean Combs,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson advised the Manhattan jury as she pointed at Combs, who leaned again in his chair. ”During this trial you’re going to hear about 20 years of the defendant’s crimes.”
Those crimes, she stated, included kidnapping, arson, medication, intercourse crimes, bribery and obstruction.
Combs’ lawyer Teny Geragos, although, described the trial as a misguided overreach by prosecutors, saying that though her consumer might be violent, the state was attempting to show intercourse between consenting adults right into a prostitution and intercourse trafficking case.
“Sean Combs is a complicated man. But this is not a complicated case. This case is about love, jealousy, infidelity and money,” Geragos advised the jury of eight males and 4 ladies. “There has been a tremendous amount of noise around this case over the past year. It is time to cancel that noise.”
Geragos conceded that Combs’ violent outbursts, usually fueled by alcohol, jealousy and medicines, may need warranted home violence expenses, however not intercourse trafficking and racketeering counts. She advised jurors they could assume Combs’ is a “jerk” and may not condone his “kinky sex,” however “he’s not charged with being imply. He’s not charged with being a jerk.”
With the trial’s first witness, Israel Florez, prosecutors went proper to proof of violence by displaying footage of Combs kicking and dragging the R&B singer Cassie, his longtime girlfriend, on the ground outdoors a Los Angeles lodge’s elevators in March 2016. Jurors ended up seeing the video 4 occasions, together with as soon as during which Combs’ lawyer tried to poke holes in Florez’s recollection of occasions.
After CNN aired video of the assault final 12 months, Combs apologized and stated he was “disgusted” by his actions.
Florez, who labored lodge safety in 2016 however is now a Los Angeles police officer, stated he knew who Combs was when he encountered him sitting by the lodge’s elevators as he responded to a report of a lady in misery.
He stated he encountered Combs by the elevators in solely a white towel and slouching in a chair “with a blank stare … like a devilish stare, just looking at me.”
He stated that as he was escorting Cassie and Combs to their room, she indicated she needed to depart and Combs advised her: “You’re not going to leave.” Florez stated he advised Combs: “If she wants to leave, she’s going to leave.”
Cassie left, and Florez stated Combs referred to as out whereas holding a stack of cash with a $100 invoice on prime, telling him, “Don’t tell nobody.” Florez stated he thought-about it a bribe and advised Combs, “I don’t want your money. Just go back into your room.”
Cassie, whose authorized title is Casandra Ventura, was anticipated to testify later Monday or Tuesday.
The second witness referred to as, Daniel Phillip, stated he was knowledgeable stripper who was paid $700 to $6,000 to have intercourse with Cassie whereas Combs watched and gave directions, with the primary encounter in 2012. He stated he stopped assembly with them after he noticed Combs throw a bottle at her after which drag her by her hair right into a bed room as she screamed.
Combs watched Monday’s proceedings attentively. When he entered the courtroom, he hugged his attorneys and gave a thumbs-up to household and associates. The case has drawn intense public curiosity, and the road to get into the courthouse stretched down the block. Combs’ mom and a few of his youngsters attended, together with three daughters who left the courtroom when the testimony turned lurid.
Combs, 55, pleaded not responsible to a five-count indictment that would lead to a 15-year-to-life jail sentence if he’s convicted. Since his September arrest, he is been held at a federal jail in Brooklyn.
Lawyers for the three-time Grammy winner say prosecutors are wrongly attempting to make against the law out of a party-loving life-style that will have been indulgent, however not unlawful.
Prosecutors say Combs coerced ladies into drugged-up group sexual encounters he referred to as “freak-offs,” “wild king nights” or “hotel nights,” then stored them in line by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging them, usually by the hair.
In her opening, Johnson stated Cassie was removed from the one girl Combs beat and sexually exploited.
The prosecutor stated Combs final 12 months brutally beat one other girl — recognized solely as Jane — when she confronted him about enduring years of freak-offs in darkish lodge rooms whereas he took different paramours on date nights and journeys across the globe.
The intercourse events are central to Combs’ sexual abuse, prosecutors say. Combs’ firm paid for the events, held in lodge rooms throughout the U.S. and abroad, and his staff staged the rooms along with his most well-liked lighting, further linens and lubricant, Johnson stated. Combs compelled ladies, together with Cassie, to take medication and have interaction in sexual exercise with male escorts whereas he gratified himself and generally recorded them, Johnson stated.
Combs would beat Cassie over the smallest slights, comparable to leaving a freak-off with out his permission or taking too lengthy within the toilet, Johnson stated. Combs threatened to smash Cassie’s singing profession by publicly releasing movies of her sexually concerned with male escorts, the prosecutor stated. “Her livelihood depended on keeping him happy,” Johnson stated.
Cassie sued Combs in 2023, and the lawsuit was settled inside hours, however it touched off a regulation enforcement investigation and was adopted by dozens of lawsuits making comparable claims.
Geragos claimed Combs’ accusers have been motivated by cash. She advised jurors that Cassie demanded $30 million when she sued him, and one other witness will acknowledge demanding $22 million in a breach of contract lawsuit.
She additionally conceded that Combs is extraordinarily jealous and “has a bad temper,” telling the jury that he generally bought offended and lashed out when he drank alcohol or “did the wrong drugs.” But, she stated, “Domestic violence is not sex trafficking.”
The Associated Press doesn’t usually determine individuals who say they’re victims of sexual abuse until they arrive ahead publicly, as Cassie has accomplished.
The trial is predicted to final two months.
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