Sean ‘Diddy' Combs trial: Cassie cross-examined in rapper's sex trafficking case
incoming update…
A very pregnant Cassie Ventura headed to court Thursday for her continued testimony in Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex-trafficking trial.
The now 38-year-old musician spent Tuesday and Wednesday sharing her side of the story with the jury. While on the stand Wednesday, Cassie remembered having dinner with friends in New York on the night Diddy allegedly assaulted her for the first time.
Cassie testified that she had witnessed Diddy flirting with another woman in 2007 or 2008, and attempted to "shrug it off." Once they were in the Escalade SUV, she claimed Diddy "knocked me around."
The singer-songwriter also testified about Diddy's attack at Intercontinental Hotel in 2016 that was caught on surveillance video.
Diddy's defense team will get a chance to cross-examine Cassie today and Friday, May 16.
Sean "Diddy" Combs arrived to the courtroom and hugged his attorneys before taking a seat at the defense table.
Diddy's legal team and the prosecution are discussing pending trial issues with Judge Arun Subramanian. The defense is wanting to introduce text messages as evidence that they claim speak to his state of mind.
Cassie testified May 13 and May 14 about the alleged physical abuse she experienced at the hands of Diddy. She claimed Combs began physically abusing her one year after they met.
Diddy appeared calm before opening statements on Monday. He sat reading the Bible as he waited for jury selection to begin.
The prosecution claimed Combs ran a criminal enterprise for 20 years and described the violent relationships he had with both Cassie and an anonymous woman, "Jane.' They accused Diddy of using lies, drugs, threats and violence to force Cassie and Jane to have sex with escorts. Diddy would record the encounters and threaten to release the videos if the women didn't comply with his demands, according to the prosecution.
Surveillance footage showing Sean 'Diddy' Combs attacking Cassie Ventura is 'the most important evidence' in the rapper's sex-trafficking case, according to an expert.
'It bolsters Cassie's credibility and corroborates her account of trying to escape a freak off,' former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Fox News Digital. 'People can lie, but video doesn't lie.'
'The video makes the violence real,' the West Coast Trial Lawyers founder added. 'That's why the prosecution raised the video repeatedly during jury selection, opening statements, and introduced it through their first witness. It's the smoking gun evidence in the case, and why the defense is desperately trying to differentiate between domestic violence and sex trafficking."
The jury saw the video in full and heard testimony from Cassie and a former hotel security guard, Israel Florez. The security guard claimed he responded to a call about a woman in distress and found a broken vase in the elevator lobby.
Cassie told Florez not to call the police and left the hotel on her own.
At the time of the attack, Cassie had been trying to leave an alleged 'freak off."
Cassie Ventura will 'gain sympathy' from the jury from being an assault victim and a soon-to-be-mother, a legal expert told Fox News Digital.
The now 38-year-old has spent the past two days testifying in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex-trafficking trial.
While Cassie is a sympathetic witness, the defense can 'diffuse' her appearance on the stand through evidence.
"...Diddy's team can remind the jury of how long ago this was, and that she was very different back then,' entertainment lawyer Tre Lovell told Fox News Digital. 'Appearance before a jury is always very important, for both the defendant and credibility of witnesses, but the attorneys can diffuse this through evidence and reminding the jury that everyone in court will be on their best behavior and, by design, not exhibit the conduct for which they are either the subject of the prosecution or a testifying witness."
Cassie is expecting her third child with husband Alex Fine. Cassie and Fine married in 2019 after meeting the year before.
The video surveillance footage from the Intercontinental Hotel showing Sean 'Diddy' Combs beat Cassie Ventura
will make the former couple's relationship dynamic 'more palpable' for the jury, according to a legal expert.
'It's one thing to have testimony about a harrowing event, but seeing frame by frame a visual depiction of a man brutalizing a woman can be very impactful for this jury,' criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis told Fox News Digital. 'The panel will see the force and fury with which Diddy inflicted the attack, and how Cassie's body coiled up in an effort of self-preservation.'
'The jury could conclude that this was the ever-present physical threat that the defendant posed to the alleged victim, and it would make sense why she felt she couldn't say no to his freak-off demands,' he explained. 'The video could make the violence and fear in this relationship dynamic more palpable for the jury and could certainly affect their deliberations.'
The jury was shown the video and heard testimony from Cassie about that day. The singer-songwriter claimed she was attempting to leave a 'freak off' when Diddy allegedly her in the elevator lobby on March 5, 2016.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs'
federal trial for sex crimes began on Monday, after a 12-person jury, consisting of eight men and four women, was finalized minutes before opening statements began. There were also six alternates selected.
The youngest juror, Juror No. 321, a 24-year-old male, works in coffee services, while the oldest juror, Juror No. 217, a 74-year-old female, lives alone and used to be a treatment coordinator.
Both Juror No. 5 and Juror No. 25 admitted to seeing the hotel surveillance video of Diddy attacking Cassie Ventura, with the latter he also knew Diddy as a "business person" and was aware of "violent behavior," but had not formed an opinion about what he had seen.
Multiple Bronx residents were picked to sit on the jury. Juror No. 58, a 41-year-old man who works as the head account clerk in corrections, said he enjoys '90s hip-hop and sports. Juror No. 184, a 39-year-old male, lives with his brother and is employed as a social worker program supervisor.
Juror No. 2 admitted to having familiarity with domestic violence but said this wouldn't interfere with his ability to remain impartial. Juror No. 28, a 30-year-old woman said while she was aware of Diddy's arrest, she didn't know the reason until now, and would be able to follow instructions.
Juror No. 75 retired from J.P. Morgan, and Juror No. 160 lives with her husband and is a physician's assistant. Also on the stand is Juror No. 116, who said he would have trouble staying impartial when looking at violence.
Both Juror No. 201, a 67-year-old man, and Juror No. 230, a 57-year-old man, have children and reside in Westchester County. Juror No. 234, a 34-year-old man who lives with his parents and sister in Manhattan, doesn't watch the news and prefers reading video game magazines.
Juror No. 247, 40, is from New York County and is a physician scientist and has a master's degree and bachelor's degree in chemistry. Juror 292 mentioned she knew one location noted in the voir dire.
The final juror selected in Diddy's sex crimes case was Juror No. 330, a 37-year-old man from New York County who works with the U.S. State Department and prefers watching "Andor" with his girlfriend, who works in the medical field.
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