NEW YORK (AP) — The jury deliberating at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ intercourse trafficking trial heard testimony from 34 witnesses over the past seven weeks.
They included Combs’ ex-girlfriends Cassie and Jane, who stated he pressured them into drug-fueled intercourse marathons they referred to as “freak-offs” and “hotel nights,” a intercourse employee they knew as “The Punisher,” private assistants who stated they witnessed his violence and facilitated his sexual exploits, and different girls who accused him of abuse.
All the witnesses have been referred to as by the prosecution. Combs waived his proper to testify — commonplace for felony defendants — and his protection group declined to name any witnesses of their very own. As a substitute, they sought to undercut the allegations through cross-examination in the course of the prosecution’s case.
Listed below are a few of the key witnesses and what they stated:
Cassie
Cassie, the R&B singer whose actual title is Casandra Ventura, dated Combs from 2007 to 2018 after he signed her to his Unhealthy Boy Data label. Over 4 days, she informed jurors Combs beat her and ordered her to have “disgusting” intercourse with male intercourse employees throughout multi-day “freak-offs.” She additionally stated Combs raped her after she stated she was ending their relationship.
In 2016, safety cameras captured Combs hitting, kicking and dragging Cassie as she left his room on the Intercontinental Resort in Los Angeles. The video was proven repeatedly all through the trial. A resort guard testified that Combs paid $100,000 to cover the video. It remained secret till CNN aired it in Might 2024.
Jane
Jane, testifying below a pseudonym, dated Combs from 2021 till his arrest final September. The mannequin stated she repeatedly informed Combs she didn’t need to have intercourse with different males however that he stored pressuring her. She stated she felt “obligated” partially as a result of he paid her hire.
Final yr, Jane stated, Combs put her in a chokehold, punched her within the face and compelled her into an encounter with a intercourse employee. She stated he informed her: “You’re not going to ruin my night like this.” Each girls stated Combs threatened to launch their intercourse movies in the event that they refused his calls for.
Child Cudi
Rapper Child Cudi testified that Combs broke into his dwelling in late 2011 after studying he and Cassie have been courting. His Porsche was firebombed a couple of weeks later. Cudi, whose authorized title is Scott Mescudi, stated he knew Combs “had something to do” with it, however Combs informed him he wasn’t concerned.
Cudi stated he thought Combs was mendacity when he claimed he knew nothing in regards to the automotive.
Daniel Phillip
Daniel Phillip, an unique dancer concerned in “freak-offs” from 2012 to 2014, stated he was paid $700 to $6,000 to have intercourse with Cassie whereas Combs watched and barked orders at them. He recalled the hip-hop mogul telling them: “You need to rub more baby oil on each other. You don’t have enough on.”
One other time, Phillip stated, Cassie jumped into his lap — her physique shaking — after it seemed like Combs was slapping and slamming her round an adjoining room. He stated he stopped assembly the couple after seeing Combs throw a bottle at her earlier than dragging her by her hair right into a bed room as she screamed.
“The Punisher”
Sharay Hayes, an unique dancer recognized by the stage title “The Punisher,” stated Cassie used the ruse of a birthday striptease to lure him to his first “freak-off.” He recalled seeing child oil bottles in bowls of water and getting handed $800 in money. Later, after Combs watched him have intercourse with Cassie, he stated he was handed $1,200 extra.
Combs stored his face hidden throughout their preliminary conferences, and Hayes stated he did not notice it was him till he noticed a message on a resort room TV display screen that stated: “Essex House would like to welcome Mr. Sean Combs.”
Capricorn Clark
Ex-Combs worker Capricorn Clark stated Combs got here to her dwelling waving a gun the day of the break-in and demanded she dress and go along with him as a result of “we’re going to kill Cudi.”
After the break-in, Clark stated, Combs informed her she needed to persuade Cudi “it wasn’t me.” “If you don’t convince him of that I’ll kill all you,” he stated, punctuating his menace with an expletive, Clark recalled.
Mia
A former private assistant testifying below the pseudonym “Mia” stated Combs put his hand up her gown and forcibly kissed her at his fortieth party in 2009, pressured her to carry out oral intercourse on one other event and raped her in 2010. His attorneys say the claims are false.
Confronted on cross examination with loving texts she despatched Combs lengthy after her employment had ended, she stated: “I was still brainwashed.”
Bryana “Bana” Bongolan
Cassie’s pal Bryana “Bana” Bongolan testified that Combs dangled her over the railing of Cassie’s seventeenth flooring balcony and threw her onto patio furnishings in September 2016, leaving her bruised and traumatized.
However protection lawyer Nicole Westmoreland uncovered holes in her story on cross examination, exhibiting that Combs was on tour on the East Coast in 2016 when she stated she suffered the bruises proven to jurors in an image she had taken of her accidents.
George Kaplan
George Kaplan stated he’d toss out liquor bottles and medicines and clear up child oil from Combs’ resort rooms. He stated he stop after seeing Combs combating with Cassie however did not report it to authorities. Kaplan stated he nonetheless sends Combs birthday greetings and invited him to his wedding ceremony. Kaplan informed jurors he was grateful to work for Combs and nonetheless has “a great deal of respect” for him.
David James
David James testified that Combs had him inventory resort rooms with child oil, condoms, Viagra and different provides whereas he labored as much as 20-hour days as a private assistant from Might 2007 to Might 2009. James stated he noticed Combs with three handguns on his lap as they drove to confront Combs’ report trade rival Suge Knight in 2008.
On one other event, he testified, Combs requested him to carry his iPod from his residence to his resort and, when no person answered the door, he went in and noticed Cassie on the mattress in a white comforter and a “completely naked” man he didn’t acknowledge who walked “across the room and kind of scurried away.”
Brendan Paul
Brendan Paul, who labored as a private assistant to Combs for about 18 months ending in March 2024, stated he purchased medication for Combs together with cocaine, ketamine, ecstasy and marijuana.
His employment ended when he was arrested at a Miami, Florida airport for possession of cocaine, which he testified got here from Combs’ room.
Deonte Nash
Combs’ attorneys confronted superstar stylist Deonte Nash with messages he despatched expressing love for Combs. A few of them have been from 2019 and 2020, two years after their skilled relationship ended.
A reluctant witness for prosecutors, he nonetheless gave them perception into the connection between Cassie and Combs, saying Cassie was “quite often” left with bruises to her legs, arms and neck, moreover an incident when Combs left her with a big, bloody gash above her eye throughout a beating.
Daybreak Richard
Daybreak Richard, a singer within the Unhealthy Boy Data teams Danity Kane and Diddy — Soiled Cash, testified that she witnessed Combs performing violently towards Cassie, together with swinging at her with a skillet and beating her in 2009. She says Combs made a menace, which she took as a loss of life menace, if she didn’t hold quiet.
Combs’ attorneys contend Richard’s story has been inconsistent and that she is motivated to talk in opposition to him as a result of she is suing him
