Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial recap: Ex-girlfriend ‘Jane' faces cross-examination from the defense after harrowing testimony about ‘hotel nights'

Yahoo

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The trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs continued Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, with 'Jane' — a pseudonym for an alleged victim and ex-girlfriend of Combs — returning to the witness stand to face cross-examination from the defense in the high-profile sex trafficking case.
Federal prosecutors say that for decades, Combs abused, threatened and coerced women to participate in drug-fueled marathon sexual encounters called "freak offs" and used his business empire, along with guns, kidnapping and arson, to conceal his crimes.
Testifying for a fourth straight day, Jane said that she still loves Combs despite her allegations of abuse, and that she endured the 'freak offs,' or what she called 'hotel nights,' because 'he was my baby.'
Over three days of direct testimony, she tearfully recounted the harrowing sexual encounters — telling the court that she felt obligated to 'perform' sex acts for Combs with other men because he was paying her rent. She also testified about a brutal assault she endured before Combs ordered her to cover up her injuries and take ecstasy for an impromptu 'hotel night.'
The 55-year-old hip-hop mogul is facing five criminal counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
Here are some key takeaways from Wednesday's testimony culled from various reporters and news organizations in the courtroom, including CNN, NBC News, and the Washington Post.
Under cross-examination, Jane acknowledged that despite the alleged abuse, she still loves Combs.
She told the court that she endured the 'freak offs' or 'hotel nights' — and having sex with multiple strange men in front of Combs — because she often thought it was the only way she could spend time with him.
'He was my baby,' she said. She said that after a typical 'hotel night,' she'd give him foot massages, feed and bathe him and put on his favorite show, NBC's 'Dateline,' until he fell asleep.
When asked by defense attorney Teny Geragos if she still loved Combs, Jane said that she does.
Geragos pressed Jane on the financial support she has received from Combs.
During her direct testimony, Jane told the court that Combs paid and still pays her $10,000-per-month rent — part of the 'love contract' she entered into with him — and that he is currently paying her attorney fees for appearing as a government witness at his trial.
Over the course of their three-plus-year relationship, Geragos estimated that Combs wired Jane $150,000. Jane said that she was not sure of the exact figure but that the number seemed accurate.
But Jane also testified that she lived under constant threat of Combs not paying her rent, which she said he used 'as a little tool.'
Big picture: The defense sought to underscore the consistent financial support Combs has given Jane — an arrangement that could undercut her allegations of abuse in the minds of the jury.
Jane testified that early in their relationship, she became concerned about Combs's drug use.
She recalled that on a trip to Turks and Caicos, the music mogul's hands were shaking and that the coloring of his eyes and gums seemed off.
'I could tell he wasn't taking very good care of himself,' she said, adding that she urged him to seek treatment.
When Geragos suggested that Jane knew Combs was a drug addict, she said, 'In the beginning I didn't really know how to label it. I encountered somebody that was overdoing the partying.'
'As our relationship continued I noticed a very strong pattern, and I still didn't really even label [him] as a drug addict," she said. "I think now I would say that, but then I just would say that he was a really big party guy.'
Describing the details of some of their 'hotel nights' under cross-examination, Jane testified that when they were with a male escort named Paul, they likened themselves to NBA greats.
They called themselves 'the trifecta,' a label coined by Combs, she said.
In this scenario, Jane was Kobe Bryant, Paul was Shaquille O'Neal and Combs was Michael Jordan.
"I was Kobe Bryant and Paul was Shaq," she told the court. "Sean was Michael Jordan."
As the frequency of their "hotel nights" increased, Jane said that she sought to understand Combs's desire to see her have sex with other men.
She told the court that she began researching and came across the word "cuck," which is derived from "cuckhold," a man whose wife or girlfriend is unfaithful. She said she understood a "cuck" to mean a man who is turned on by watching his woman have sex with another man. (In recent years, the word has been co-opted by right-wing conservatives as a derogatory term for a man who has politically progressive or moderate views.)
Jane said she also believed Combs could have been exploring bisexuality.
'Cucks could also have a bi-curiosity that they are too ashamed to experience themselves,' she explained. 'So they use the woman to venture out in this curiosity without actually doing the act itself.'
Big picture: The defense has argued that Combs was engaged in a "swinger" lifestyle and not a criminal enterprise as prosecutors allege. Having the jury hear Jane say that she believes Combs was exploring his sexuality through the "freak offs" could help make that case.
At one point during Tuesday's cross-examination, Jane and defense lawyer Geragos got into a pointed exchange over designer handbags.
Geragos suggested that Jane was accepting designer handbags from Combs in exchange for having sex with strange men.
"No, I got trauma," the witness said.
When Geragos asked Jane if she knew what a Bottega handbag is, she responded: "I'm sure you have one."
Then, when Geragos asked how much a Bottega bag costs, Jane shot back: "How much does my body cost?"
Before testimony got underway, Judge Arun Subramanian denied a motion for a mistrial submitted over the weekend by Combs's legal team.
The motion was centered around the testimony of government witness Bryana Bongolan, a friend of Combs's ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who testified that Combs dangled her from the 17th-floor balcony of Ventura's apartment in Los Angeles on Sept. 26, 2016. The defense submitted evidence showing Combs wasn't in Los Angeles on that date. Bongolan said she estimated the date based on photos of her injuries.
Combs's team alleged mistrial prosecutorial misconduct, claiming that the government knew or should have known that the witness's assertion of the date the alleged attack occurred was "demonstrably false.' But the judge disagreed.
'This is not fodder for a mistrial; this is the adversarial process at work,' Subramanian said, while calling defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland's cross-examination of Bongolan a 'real Perry Mason moment.'
No interference happened, Subramanian said, and the defense was fully able to undermine Bongolan's testimony.