Diddy's ex Gina Huynh makes surprise plea for his release after dropping out of trial despite claim he ‘stomped on her'
Virginia - 'Gina' - Huynh had initially been anonymously referred to as 'Victim-3' in the disgraced music mogul's sex trafficking trial.
6
6
She was supposed to testify against Combs in his criminal case, reported CNN.
But, Gina "mysteriously dropped out" days before the rapper's trial began, it added.
It has now transpired that she has asked - via Combs' defense team - for Judge Arun Subramanian to show her ex leniency during the star's sentencing.
This is despite her once claiming he had stomped on her stomach, and dragged her by the hair.
In a surprise letter to the judge, Gina has pleaded for Combs to be set free from jail.
She also stated that she does not believe Combs is a danger to the community.
It's the first time "Victim-3" has identified herself by name.
According to court documents cited by Page Six, Gina described her ex as a committed family man 'who has not been violent in many years.'
She claimed, 'To my knowledge, [Combs] has not been violent for many years, and he has been committed to being a father first.
'Our relationship, like many, was not always perfect, we experienced ups and downs, and mistakes were made.
Diddy trial witness 'The Punisher' reveals battle against 'storm of negativity' after taking part in freak-offs
"But he was willing to acknowledge his mistakes and make better decisions in the future.'
Gina's letter also claimed her ex, 'embodied an energy of love, patience and gentleness that was markedly different from his past behavior' by the time their troubled relationship ended.
'I am writing because I do not view Mr. Combs as a danger to me or to the community,' she said, while stressing that it was his "first criminal case."
'He has substantial ties to his family and community, including children who depend on him for emotional and financial support,' she added.
'I want to assure the Court that if released, I believe Mr. Combs will adhere to all conditions imposed and will not jeopardize his freedom or the well-being of his family.'
Her plea was included as an exhibit in the defense's latest filing ahead of the singer 's sentencing in his federal criminal case on October 3.
VIOLENCE
However, her endorsement has come as a surprise as she had previously claimed Combs had punched her in the head during their five-year relationship.
Her allegations were aired during a bombshell 2019 interview with controversial celebrity gossip blogger LaTasha Kebe, known as Tasha K - who was once involved in a defamation lawsuit with Cardi B.
Gina alleged during her interview with the blogger, "He stomped on my stomach really hard — like, took the wind out of my breath.
'I couldn't breathe. He kept hitting me. I was pleading to him, 'Can you just stop? I can't breathe.''
She also alleged the rapper then grabbed her by the hair and was 'punching' the back of her head.
Gina claimed she defended herself by fighting back as she had had 'enough of his s**t.'
She alleged, "He was mentally, emotionally and physically abusing me."
DROPPED OUT OF TRIAL
Diddy's ex was initially part of the prosecution's case against Combs, and was to have been a key witness.
She was expected to testify alongside his other ex-girlfriends, Cassie - the R&B singer whose real name is Casandra Ventura - and Jane Doe, who testified under a pseudonym.
However, prosecutors had to tell the jury in New York that 'Victim-3 may not show up' after they lost contact with Gina and her attorney.
Gina had claimed to Tasha K that Combs, "would always compare me to Cassie and tell me that I'm the bad one, she's a good one."
Cassie and Jane told the court during the star's trial that he forced them into drug-fueled sex marathons they called 'freak-offs' and 'hotel nights."
The jury deliberating at his sex trafficking trial heard testimony from 34 witnesses over seven weeks at Manhattan's Federal Court.
APPLES THROWN
This included testimony from Combs' ex-employees, such as his former assistant, George Kaplan, who testified that he witnessed at least three alleged instances of violence.
He alleged that his saw his former boss throw apples at a woman named Gina in 2015.
Kaplan said it was "the last straw for me."
ABC News reported during the trial that Kaplan told the court that in the fall of 2015 he saw a "very angry" Combs.
He alleged that he saw the singer "throwing these green apples that lived in a decorative vessel" in the entryway of his Miami home.
6
6
The apples were allegedly aimed "at another girlfriend" of Combs' who, Kaplan told the court, was "trying to shield herself with her arms."
In 2016, security cameras captured Combs hitting, kicking and dragging Cassie as she left his room at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles.
The horrific video was shown repeatedly throughout his trial.
VERDICT
In early July, Combs, 55, was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges carrying potential life prison terms.
But, he was convicted of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution for arranging for girlfriends and male sex workers to travel to engage in sexual encounters that he filmed.
Each prostitution-related charge carries a potential maximum 10 years in prison.
After hearing the verdict, Combs held his hands up in a prayer motion, looking at the jury and hugging his defense lawyer Teny Geragos.
Prosecutors had alleged the Bad Boy Records founder used physical violence, threats, and the resources of his business empire to coerce two former girlfriends to participate in days-long, drug-fueled sexual performances with male sex workers sometimes called "freak-offs."
Combs pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers argued his two girlfriends took part willingly in the encounters.
SENTENCING
The Associated Press reported that prosecutors said they now expect Combs could face a prison sentence 'substantially higher' than the four to five years they once thought he was likely to face.
In a submission to the Manhattan federal court last Thursday, they also opposed his request to be released on $50 million bail while he awaits sentencing.
Combs' lawyers have said they believe the guidelines, if properly calculated, will call for 21 to 27 months in prison.
6
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump threatens to ‘federalize' DC after attack on Doge staffer
Donald Trump is threatening to strip Washington DC of its local governance and place the US capital under direct federal control, citing what he described as rampant youth crime following an alleged assault on a federal employee who worked for the so-called 'department of government efficiency' (Doge). In a post on his Truth Social platform, the president said he would 'federalize' the city if local authorities failed to address crime, specifically calling for minors as young as 14 to be prosecuted as adults. 'Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control,' Trump wrote. 'If D.C. doesn't get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run.' The threat received backing from Elon Musk, after the billionaire described an incident in which a member of the Doge team was allegedly 'severely beaten to the point of concussion' while defending a woman from assault in the capital. 'A few days ago, a gang of about a dozen young men tried to assault a woman in her car at night in DC,' Musk posted on X. 'A @Doge team member saw what was happening, ran to defend her and was severely beaten to the point of concussion, but he saved her. It is time to federalize DC.' The victim was identified by friends and the police as Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old known as 'Big Balls', one of Doge's most recognizable staffers who joined Doge in January. He reportedly left in June, and is currently employed at the Social Security Administration. According to a police report obtained by Politico, Coristine was assaulted at approximately 3am on Sunday by about 10 juveniles near Dupont Circle. Police arrested two 15-year-olds from Maryland, a boy and a girl, as they attempted to flee the scene, and charged them with attempted carjacking. A black iPhone 16 valued at $1,000 was reported stolen during the incident. Trump's post, which included images of a bloodied and shirtless Coristine, concluded: 'If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!' Washington DC currently operates under 'home rule', established in 1973, which grants the city an elected mayor and council while maintaining ultimate congressional oversight. No president has attempted to revoke this arrangement since its creation. Trump's threat could theoretically take several forms. The constitution grants Congress broad authority over the federal district, though completely suspending local governance would probably require congressional legislation. Trump could also deploy federal law enforcement officers or national guard troops under executive authority, as he did during 2020 protests when federal forces cleared Lafayette Square outside the White House over local officials' objections. But fully stripping the city's home rule would probably face fierce Democratic opposition in Congress. Any such move would require congressional legislation that Democrats could block or attempt to challenge in federal courts. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion The president targeted DC's juvenile justice system specifically. 'The Law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute these 'minors' as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14,' he wrote, referring to alleged attackers he described as 'local thugs' and putting the word 'youths' in quotation marks. Washington DC, with a population of about 700,000, has seen violent crime decline in the first half of 2025 compared with the previous year, and 2024 marked a 30-year low, according to a pre-Trump January report by the Department of Justice. The Democratic-controlled city has frequently clashed with Trump over federal interventions and has long sought statehood, which would grant it full self-governance and congressional representation – which Republican lawmakers have opposed. The office of the DC mayor, Muriel Bowser, declined a request for comment.
The Independent
38 minutes ago
- The Independent
Man charged with killing a top Minnesota House Democrat is expected to plead not guilty
The man charged with killing the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband, and wounding a state senator and his wife, is expected to plead not guilty when he's arraigned in federal court on Thursday, his attorney said. Vance Boelter, 58, of Green Isle, Minnesota, was indicted July 15 on six counts of murder, stalking and firearms violations. The murder charges could carry the federal death penalty, though prosecutors say that decision is several months away. As they announced the indictment, prosecutors released a rambling handwritten letter they say Boelter wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel in which he confessed to the June 14 shootings of Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. However, the letter doesn't make clear why he targeted the Hortmans or Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who survived. Boelter's federal defender, Manny Atwal, said at the time that the weighty charges did not come as a surprise, but she has not commented on the substance of the allegations or any defense strategies. The hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster will also serve as a case management conference. She plans to issue a revised schedule with deadlines afterward, potentially including a trial date. Prosecutors have moved to designate the proceedings as a 'complex case' so that standard speedy trial requirements won't apply, saying both sides will need plenty of time to review the voluminous evidence. 'The investigation of this case arose out of the largest manhunt in Minnesota's history," they wrote. "Accordingly, the discovery to be produced by the government will include a substantial amount of investigative material and reports from more than a dozen different law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels.' They said the evidence will include potentially thousands of hours of video footage, tens of thousands of pages of responses to dozens of grand jury subpoenas, and data from numerous electronic devices seized during the investigation. Boelter's motivations remain murky. Friends have described him as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views who had been struggling to find work. Authorities said Boelter made long lists of politicians in Minnesota and other states — all or mostly Democrats. In a series of cryptic notes to The New York Times through his jail's electronic messaging service, Boelter suggested his actions were partly rooted in the Christian commandment to love one's neighbor. 'Because I love my neighbors prior to June 14th I conducted a 2 year long undercover investigation,' he wrote. In messages published earlier by the New York Post, Boelter insisted the shootings had nothing to do with his opposition to abortion or his support for President Donald Trump, but he declined to elaborate. 'There is little evidence showing why he turned to political violence and extremism,' the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Joe Thompson, told reporters last month. He also reiterated that prosecutors consider Hortman's killing a 'political assassination.' Prosecutors say Boelter was disguised as a police officer and driving a fake squad car early June 14 when he went to the Hoffmans' home in the Minneapolis suburb of Champlin. He shot the senator nine times, and his wife eight times, officials said. Boelter later went to the Hortmans' home in nearby Brooklyn Park and killed both of them, authorities said. Their dog was so gravely injured that he had to be euthanized. Boelter surrendered the next night.
The Guardian
39 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Assault on Sudan's Zamzam refugee camp may have killed more than 1,500 civilians
More than 1,500 civilians may have been massacred during an attack on Sudan's largest displacement camp in April, in what would be the second-biggest war crime of the country's catastrophic conflict. A Guardian investigation into the 72-hour attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on North Darfur's Zamzam camp, the country's largest for people displaced by the war, found repeated testimony of mass executions and large-scale abductions. Hundreds of civilians remain unaccounted for. The magnitude of likely casualties means the assault by the RSF ranks only behind a similar ethnic slaughter in West Darfur two years ago. The war between the Arab-led RSF and Sudanese military, which broke out in April 2023, has been characterised by repeated atrocities, forcing millions from their homes and causing the world's largest humanitarian crisis. Until now, reports about the attack on Zamzam between 11 and 14 April had indicated that up to 400 non-Arab civilians were killed during the three-day assault. The UN has said 'hundreds' died. However, a committee set up to investigate the death toll has so far 'counted' more than 1,500 killed in the attack, which occurred on the eve of a British government-led conference in London intended to bring peace to Sudan. Mohammed Sharif, part of the committee from Zamzam's former administration, said the final total would be significantly higher, with many bodies still not recovered from the camp, which is now controlled by the RSF. 'Their bodies are lying inside homes, in the fields, on roads,' Sharif told the Guardian. An atrocity expert with decades of experience in Darfur, who has interviewed scores of survivors from Zamzam, believes up to 2,000 people may have been killed. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they added that the levels of violence were striking even when viewed alongside the genocidal slaughter of ethnic African groups in Darfur during the 2000s by the Arab militias who would later become the RSF. 'Every single testimony from everyone who escaped knew family members who were killed. That's something I've never seen before.' Abdallah Abugarda, of the UK's Darfur Diaspora Association, said that about 4,500 members of his organisation knew a friend or relative killed in the attack. At least 2,000 Zamzam residents, he said, remain missing. 'The massacre at Zamzam, home to displaced people for over 20 years, is one of the most heinous crimes in recent global history. Yet no global outrage has followed,' added Abugarda. Claire Nicolet, deputy head of emergencies for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said the attack had targeted 'one of the most vulnerable people on earth'. Those who survived, she said, had faced 'widespread looting, sexual violence and other attacks while on the road and appalling living conditions in transit displacement sites'. Large numbers of women were abducted and remain missing. Sharif said they knew of more than 20 who had been taken to Nyala, an RSF stronghold 160km from Zamzam. Last month, the International Criminal Court said it had 'reasonable grounds' to conclude that war crimes and crimes against humanity were unfolding in Darfur. In Geneina, West Darfur's capital, more than 10,000 people – mainly Masalit and other non-Arab Sudanese – are believed to have been killed by the RSF and allied militias over two months from mid-April 2023. An episode of fighting during November that year in a suburb of El Geneina killed more than 800, according to the UN. The Sudanese military has also been accused of myriad war crimes, in particular the massacre of civilians in indiscriminate bombing raids.
