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Sean ‘Diddy' Combs' defence team request mistrial

Sean ‘Diddy' Combs' defence team request mistrial

Perth Now28-05-2025

Sean 'Diddy' Combs' defence team have requested a mistrial.
The rapper, 55, is standing trial in New York on federal charges including sex trafficking and racketeering, and his legal staff have now alleged prosecutorial misconduct over the questioning related to alleged destroyed evidence in the arson case involving a car belonging to Combs' fellow performer Kid Cudi.
Combs' lead lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, has criticised the prosecution for making an 'outrageous' suggestion his client could have been involved in the destruction of fingerprint evidence connected to the 2011 Molotov cocktail attack on Kid's Porsche. Mr Agnifilo argued the implication was unfairly presented to the jury during the cross-examination of arson investigator Lance Jimenez.
Lance had testified fingerprint evidence from the Molotov cocktail bottle was destroyed in 2012 without his knowledge, on orders from the Los Angeles Police Department, which was not part of his investigative team.
After a brief recess and with the jury excused, Mr Agnifilo said the prosecution's remarks 'implied that someone in this courtroom was responsible for the destruction of the fingerprint cards'.
He urged Judge Arun Subramanian to declare a mistrial on grounds of prosecutorial misconduct, but the motion was denied. The judge agreed to strike the fingerprint evidence discussion from the record and instructed the jury to disregard it as irrelevant to the case.
Day 11 of Combs' trial began on Wednesday (28.05.25) with testimony from a Los Angeles police officer who responded to the break-in at Kid Cudi's property in December 2011.
Capricorn Clark, who worked intermittently for Combs between 2004 and 2018, testified on Tuesday (27.05.25) about the alleged stressful and violent environment she endured at the rapper's hands, which she said caused her to develop alopecia. She said Combs threatened her repeatedly, including on her first day after learning she had worked for his rival Suge Knight's Death Row Records.
'What did Mr. Combs tell you in the park?' prosecutors asked Capricorn.
She replied: 'That since I'd worked for Suge Knight, if anything happened, he might have to kill me.'
Capricorn added Combs and his security guard allegedly kidnapped her in December 2011 after learning about the relationship between Kid Cudi and Combs' singer ex Cassie Ventura, 38.
She said she witnessed Combs break into Kid's home and engage in a car chase after the rapper in his black Porsche.
Capricorn also said she was forced to undergo a five-day lie detector test and was threatened with being 'thrown in a river' if she failed, following the disappearance of some of Combs' jewelry.
She described being allegedly locked in an abandoned New York building while questioned over the missing items.
Clark broke down in tears during her testimony while describing the apparent brutal conditions of her employment and said she worked long hours for low pay under constant threat.
More than a dozen witnesses, including Cassie, have testified against Combs so far.
The 55-year-old denies all charges and maintains his sexual encounters were consensual.
His federal trial is expected to continue for eight weeks and he faces up to life in jail if convicted on all charges against him.

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One of Sean "Diddy" Combs' former girlfriends has testified in the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking trial that she told him in text messages that she felt mistreated in their relationship and asked to stop taking part in sexual performances with other men. "I'm not a porn star. I'm not an animal," the woman, testifying under the pseudonym Jane to protect her privacy, wrote Combs on October 16, 2023, according to a text message she read aloud in court. "It's loveless for me and nothing satisfies you and you always push me to do more and more." The messages could bolster prosecutors' contention that Combs, 55, for two decades coerced women to take part in the sexual performances, sometimes known as "Freak Offs," against their will. Combs is charged with using physical force and threatening to cut off financial support to get women to take part in the drug-fuelled, sometimes days-long performances in hotel rooms while he watched. 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Combs could face life in prison if convicted on all counts. Also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, Combs turned artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, elevating hip-hop in US culture and becoming a billionaire in the process. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 One of Sean "Diddy" Combs' former girlfriends has testified in the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking trial that she told him in text messages that she felt mistreated in their relationship and asked to stop taking part in sexual performances with other men. "I'm not a porn star. I'm not an animal," the woman, testifying under the pseudonym Jane to protect her privacy, wrote Combs on October 16, 2023, according to a text message she read aloud in court. "It's loveless for me and nothing satisfies you and you always push me to do more and more." The messages could bolster prosecutors' contention that Combs, 55, for two decades coerced women to take part in the sexual performances, sometimes known as "Freak Offs," against their will. Combs is charged with using physical force and threatening to cut off financial support to get women to take part in the drug-fuelled, sometimes days-long performances in hotel rooms while he watched. Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His lawyers have acknowledged that Combs was occasionally abusive in domestic relationships but say the women who took part in Freak Offs did so consensually. Jane, the third alleged sex abuse victim of Combs to testify at his trial in Manhattan federal court, told jurors last week that she was "head over heels" for Combs at the outset of their relationship, which lasted from 2021 through 2024. She testified that most of the time they spent together involved sex performances with male escorts in hotel rooms, even though she wanted to go on dates with just Combs. She said Combs - whose net worth Forbes estimated at above $US1 billion ($A1.5 billion) in 2022 - threatened to stop paying her rent when she said she wanted to stop having sex with other men. Combs' defence lawyers are due to cross-examine Jane later this week. The trial is in its fifth week. Combs could face life in prison if convicted on all counts. Also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, Combs turned artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, elevating hip-hop in US culture and becoming a billionaire in the process. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 One of Sean "Diddy" Combs' former girlfriends has testified in the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking trial that she told him in text messages that she felt mistreated in their relationship and asked to stop taking part in sexual performances with other men. "I'm not a porn star. I'm not an animal," the woman, testifying under the pseudonym Jane to protect her privacy, wrote Combs on October 16, 2023, according to a text message she read aloud in court. "It's loveless for me and nothing satisfies you and you always push me to do more and more." The messages could bolster prosecutors' contention that Combs, 55, for two decades coerced women to take part in the sexual performances, sometimes known as "Freak Offs," against their will. Combs is charged with using physical force and threatening to cut off financial support to get women to take part in the drug-fuelled, sometimes days-long performances in hotel rooms while he watched. Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His lawyers have acknowledged that Combs was occasionally abusive in domestic relationships but say the women who took part in Freak Offs did so consensually. Jane, the third alleged sex abuse victim of Combs to testify at his trial in Manhattan federal court, told jurors last week that she was "head over heels" for Combs at the outset of their relationship, which lasted from 2021 through 2024. She testified that most of the time they spent together involved sex performances with male escorts in hotel rooms, even though she wanted to go on dates with just Combs. She said Combs - whose net worth Forbes estimated at above $US1 billion ($A1.5 billion) in 2022 - threatened to stop paying her rent when she said she wanted to stop having sex with other men. Combs' defence lawyers are due to cross-examine Jane later this week. The trial is in its fifth week. Combs could face life in prison if convicted on all counts. Also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, Combs turned artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, elevating hip-hop in US culture and becoming a billionaire in the process. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 One of Sean "Diddy" Combs' former girlfriends has testified in the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking trial that she told him in text messages that she felt mistreated in their relationship and asked to stop taking part in sexual performances with other men. "I'm not a porn star. I'm not an animal," the woman, testifying under the pseudonym Jane to protect her privacy, wrote Combs on October 16, 2023, according to a text message she read aloud in court. "It's loveless for me and nothing satisfies you and you always push me to do more and more." The messages could bolster prosecutors' contention that Combs, 55, for two decades coerced women to take part in the sexual performances, sometimes known as "Freak Offs," against their will. Combs is charged with using physical force and threatening to cut off financial support to get women to take part in the drug-fuelled, sometimes days-long performances in hotel rooms while he watched. Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His lawyers have acknowledged that Combs was occasionally abusive in domestic relationships but say the women who took part in Freak Offs did so consensually. Jane, the third alleged sex abuse victim of Combs to testify at his trial in Manhattan federal court, told jurors last week that she was "head over heels" for Combs at the outset of their relationship, which lasted from 2021 through 2024. She testified that most of the time they spent together involved sex performances with male escorts in hotel rooms, even though she wanted to go on dates with just Combs. She said Combs - whose net worth Forbes estimated at above $US1 billion ($A1.5 billion) in 2022 - threatened to stop paying her rent when she said she wanted to stop having sex with other men. Combs' defence lawyers are due to cross-examine Jane later this week. The trial is in its fifth week. Combs could face life in prison if convicted on all counts. Also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, Combs turned artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, elevating hip-hop in US culture and becoming a billionaire in the process. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

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