Sean Combs trial: Mystery woman set to testify against Diddy

News.com.au

6 days ago

One of the most significant witnesses at the Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial in New York is set to take the stand.
Yet the public won't know who she is even when she does give evidence.
On Wednesday, US time, an anonymous woman referred to as just 'Mia' will testify. Also known as 'Victim 4' in the Combs' indictment, the former staff member is expected to tell the court that she was forced into sex by Combs.
After Combs' former girlfriend Cassandra Ventura, Mia would be the only other person so far to talk about direct sexual relations with the music mogul.
It's not clear why she has decided to remain anonymous.
Combs is on trial in New York on federal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. Combs has denied all the charges.
Anonymous 'Victim 4' / 'Mia'
In opening statements, earlier this month, government lawyer Emily Johnson told the court Mia was a former personal assistant for Combs.
At one point, said Ms Johnson, Mia was 'forced himself on her sexually, putting his hand up her dress, unzipping his pants and forcing her to perform oral sex, and sneaking into her bed to penetrate her against her will'.
'Mia will tell you how she could not talk about what happened to her until recently … how she wanted to take the secret of what the defendant did to her to her grave'.
Ms Johnson, talking about the case in general, said it was 'not about a celebrity's private sexual preference. The evidence will show sexual conduct was coercive and criminal'.
'He made woman have sex when they didn't want too'.
She is also expected to talk to the accusations of forced labour, including sex, through various threats'.
But Combs' defence lawyers have cast doubt on Mia, questioning why accusations have only come forward years later.
As they have with other witnesses, the defence are also likely to bring up communications with Combs after alleged incidents suggesting all was well.
Defence lawyer Teny Geragos said in her opening statement that while Combs was a 'complicated man,' who was also entitled to 'private sex life'.
'Regret,' from the accusers, she said, 'is not coercion'.
Combs' solicitors have suggested a desire for cash, particularly following Ms Ventura's civil suit settlement with the star, has been a motivating factor behind the claims.
On Tuesday, US time, another former staff member of Sean Combs, Capricorn Clark, spent the entire day on the stand.
she alleged the music star kidnapped her at gunpoint, assaulted her, threatened to kill her and then destroyed her career.
'I was petrified,' said Capricorn Clark of some her dealings with Combs and his associates which, she alleged, included being threatened with being thrown into New York's East River after some jewels went missing.
'Sean Combs said I would never work again – he would make me kill myself'.
Ms Clark also took a swipe at Combs' ex-girlfriend Cassandra Ventura – who is at the centre of the case – saying the singer wasn't very 'talented'.
'I think she had talent and was a very beautiful girl,' Ms Clark said of the R&B singer.
Combs lawyer Marc Agnifilo then suggested Ms Ventura, in fact, 'wasn't very talented?'
'True,' Ms Clark responded.
She added Ms Ventura needed her voice 'equalised' and 'engineered' and she wasn't up to the calibre of, say, Mariah Carey.
The same day it was reported that Ms Ventura has gone into labour, days after testifying against him in court.
The US' People magazine reported that the singer has been taken to a New York hospital after going into labour with her third baby with husband Alex Fine.