Diddy's lawyers demand mistrial after claim about destroyed evidence from Molotov cocktail used to bomb Kid Cudi's car

The Sun

28-05-2025

SEAN "Diddy" Combs' defense team have demanded a mistrial claiming prosecutorial misconduct over questioning of the destroyed evidence from Kid Cudi's Molotov cocktail car bombing.
Combs ' lead attorney Marc Agnifilo argued the prosecution made an "outrageous" suggestion when they claimed the music executive, 55, could have played a part in the destruction of fingerprint evidence from Cudi's Porsche arson.
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The defense claimed the suggestion was raised to the jury during the prosecution's questioning of arson investigator Lance Jimenez.
Jimenez was testifying about his investigation into Cudi's car bombing and said that the fingerprint evidence recovered from the bottle of the Molotov cocktail was destroyed without his knowledge in 2012.
Jimenez told the courtroom that the DNA evidence was destroyed on orders from the Los Angeles Police Department, who was not part of his team.
After the judge called for a brief 10-minute break and the jury was escorted out of the courtroom, Agnifilo said the remarks "implied that someone in this courtroom was responsible for the destruction of the fingerprint cards."
Combs' defense team urged Judge Arun Subramanian to declare a mistrial, citing prosecutorial misconduct.
However, the motion was quickly denied.
Judge Subramanian agreed to strike the questions and responses about the fingerprint evidence from the record.
The judge then instructed the jury to disregard all the information disclosed about the DNA evidence, saying the questions and responses were irrelevant to the case.
DAY 11
The day began with testimony from an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, who responded to the break in at the property of Mescudi, better known as rapper Kid Cudi, in December 2011.
The prosecution is also expected to call forth Victim #4, who is being identified in court only by the pseudonym "Mia," as well as a friend of the defendant's ex-girlfriend, Cassandra "Cassie" Ventura.
Mia is a former employee of Combs, who prosecutors say was coerced into sex with him.
During opening statements, prosecutor Emily Johnson described Mia as a former personal assistant whom Combs worked "to the bone for years."
Johnson said that at some point, Combs allegedly forced himself on her sexually, coerced her to perform oral sex on him, and even snuck into her bed to have sex with her against her will.
Deonte Nash, a friend of Ventura, is also slated to testify.
TESTIMONY OF DIDDY'S FORMER ASSISTANT
On Tuesday, Capricorn Clark, who worked for Combs on and off between 2004 and 2018, took the stand for the prosecution, testifying about her former boss' violent and arduous demands that led her to develop stress-induced alopecia.
Clark told the court that while employed at Combs' company, her life was threatened about 50 times.
She said Combs, 55, threatened her during her first day on the job after finding out she previously worked at his rival Suge Knight's Death Row Records.
Clark told prosecutors how Combs and his security guard took her for a walk in Central Park at night.
'What did Mr. Comb tell you in the park?' prosecutors asked Clark.
'That since I'd worked for Suge Knight, if anything happened, he might have to kill me,' she testified.
During Clark's testimony, the former assistant told jurors about the time an armed Combs banged on her door and allegedly kidnapped her after he learned about Kid Cudi and Cassandra Ventura's relationship in December 2011.
Clark told the jury that Combs, who had a gun on his lap, and his security guard drove to Cudi's home, where she witnessed them break in.
She claimed Combs and his security guard engaged in a car chase with Kid Cudi after the rapper pulled up beside them in his black Porsche.
Clark disclosed shocking new details about Combs' violent assault of Ventura after learning about her relationship with Cudi.
Venutra was on the ground "in a fetal position" as Combs kicked her as the singer laid "crying silently," Clark said.
FIVE-DAY LIE DETECTOR TEST
Combs' former assistant also told the court how she was forced to take lie detector tests for five days and warned she would be thrown in a river if she failed after Combs' jewelry went missing.
Clark said she was left "petrified" after being brought to an abandoned building in New York and locked in while being questioned over the missing jewelry.
The extraordinary claims emerged during the testimony of Clark, who repeatedly broke down in tears while describing her nightmarish employment with Diddy.
At the start of Clark's testimony on Tuesday, she told the courtroom about the punishing hours and low pay she received while working for Combs.
Over a dozen witnesses, including Combs' ex-girlfriend and singer Ventura, have taken the stand throughout the trial's first two weeks, giving harrowing testimony against the Bad Boy Records executive, 55.
Clark's name was mentioned in the courtroom during rapper Kid Cudi's testimony on Thursday.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges as prosecutors continue to paint him as the ringleader of a criminal enterprise.
He has denied all allegations against him and insists he's only engaged in consensual sex.
The federal trial is expected to last eight weeks.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network) at 800-656-HOPE (4673).
27th May 2025, 15:12 By Israel Salas-Rodriguez
Sean Combs' alter-ego 'Frank Black' reemerges
Clark told prosecutors that Combs would often book hotels under the names "Frank Black" or "Frank White."
Meanwhile, Combs' girlfriends would use the name "Jackie Star," the assistant said on the stand.
When asked what was in Combs' bags, Clark said, "A camera, small bottles of baby oil and lube. Cameras. Every time."
"What would you be doing?" prosecutors asked Clark, to which she responded, "Watching TV, ordering room service, keeping up on sleep. Afterward, I'd sweep the room for anything left behind."
Clark testified that the hotel rooms would be damaged with "baby oil."
27th May 2025, 15:04 By Israel Salas-Rodriguez
Assistant was 'paid a $55,000 a year'
Clark testified about the grueling conditions while working for Combs.
"From his townhouse at 74th Street and Park in the morning, to Diddy's House studio at night," the former assistant said.
"How much sleep did you get?" prosecutors asked.
"On a good day, four hours," Clark recalled, adding, "On a bad day, two. I got a stress condition. I was paid $55k."
27th May 2025, 15:00 By Israel Salas-Rodriguez
Questioned for five days
Capricorn Clark testified that she had to undergo five days of questioning at the same dilapidated building.
She described the intimidating questioning as "wires on you, and they question you. Did I steal?"
"What did Paul say at the end?" prosecutors asked Clark.
"That he'd come back the next day to figure this out. We started again, another lie detector test in the same location. All day," Clark recalled.
Clark told prosecutors she was not free to leave and that the questioning continued for five days.
After the five days, Clark said she was informed she could return to work and that "Mr. Combs would see me the next week."
By Israel Salas-Rodriguez
Combs' security 'forced' assistant to take lie detector test
Clark testified that there was one instant when she was accused of stealing jewelry.
The former assistant said Uncle Paulie, Combs' security guard, "questioned her for three hours" about the missing jewelry and then went to search her home in Queens.
Clark said she was then taken to the sixth floor of a "dilapidated" building on Broadway, where there was a "six-foot folding table and a heavyset man" waiting for her.
"What did the heavyset man say?" prosecutors asked Clark, to which she replied, "I was there to take a lie detector test."
Prosecutors then asked Clark what would happen if she failed the test, to which Clark said, "That they would throw me in the East River."
27th May 2025, 14:48 By Israel Salas-Rodriguez
Assistant 'observed' Combs with a gun at her home
Capicorn Clark recalled witnessing Sean Combs with a gun at her home once, she testified.
Clark also said she overheard Combs discussing guns before.
"He, Mr. Combs, told Chris Lighty he had a gun. He had a problem with 50 Cent," the former assistant said.
27th May 2025, 14:43 By Israel Salas-Rodriguez
Combs 'threatened' assistant on her first day
Clark testified that on her first day, Combs and his security guard, Uncle Paulie, took her to Central Park during the night.
She described to the courtroom how Uncle Paulie looked "like a linebacker."
"What did Mr. Comb tell you in the park?" prosecutors asked Clark.
"That since I'd worked for Suge Knight, if anything happened, he might have to kill me," Clark testified.
27th May 2025, 14:40 By Israel Salas-Rodriguez
Assistant previously worked for Combs' rival, Suge Knight
Caripcorn Clark told prosecutors that before she was employed by Combs in 2004, she worked for Suge Knight's Death Row Records.
27th May 2025, 14:36 By Israel Salas-Rodriguez
Sean Combs' former assistant on the stand
The first government witness to be called to the stand on Tuesday was Capricorn Clark.
Clark told jurors she worked for Combs from 2004 to 2012.
27th May 2025, 14:35 By Israel Salas-Rodriguez
Diddy trial back in session
Sean Combs' federal sex trafficking trial has resumed following a four-day break.