Sean ‘Diddy' Combs being warned not to take stand in federal sex trafficking trial
Sean 'Diddy' Combs is being warned not to take the stand in his federal sex trafficking trial.
The 55-year-old rapper's federal trial is continuing in New York, and has seen a series of big-name witnesses take to the stand so far too testify against the Bad Boy Records founder – and legal analyst Lisa Bonner has now insisted Combs giving his testimony during proceedings would open him up to questioning on a range of damaging allegations.
She told Page Six: 'Once you take the stand, everything you've ever done – related to any of these alleged crimes – become fair game.
'You are under oath and you can go to jail for… perjury, so you want to avoid taking the stand.'
Combs is on trial on charges including sex trafficking, racketeering and obstruction.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and faces life behind bars if convicted on all allegations.
His trial, now in its third week, has seen high-profile testimony from witnesses including his singer ex Cassie Ventura, 38, as well as rapper Scott Mescudi – known as Kid Cudi – and singer Dawn Richards.
Ms Bonner added Combs would be risking exposure to uncomfortable cross-examination if he also took the stand.
She said: 'There is a lot of evidence that will be presented, even up until now, that I wouldn't want to answer if I was Diddy.
'For example, 'Did you drop the Molotov cocktail in the car or did you have any involvement in that?'' she added, referring to a 2012 firebombing of Kid Cudi's car.
Meanwhile, Combs' defence team have requested a mistrial.
They are alleging prosecutorial misconduct over the questioning related to the apparent destroying of 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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
13 hours ago
- Perth Now
Sean ‘Diddy' Combs' former assistant accuses him of hurling ice bucket at her head
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' former assistant has accused him of hurling an ice bucket at her head as part of a toxic work environment. The Bad Boy Records founder, 55, is sitting trial in New York on federal charges and facing life in prison if convicted on all charges including sex trafficking and racketeering, and the jury in the case heard on Thursday (29.05.25) from a woman testifying under the pseudonym Mia. She accused Combs of repeated violence and a toxic work environment during her time employed by the music mogul, telling the federal court: 'He's thrown things to me. He's thrown me against the wall, into a pool, ice bucket on my head, slammed my arms into a door.' Mia, now in her early 30s, appeared in court as part of a sprawling federal case against Combs, who is also accused of operating a criminal enterprise and committing acts of physical abuse and coercion. The court heard Mia met Combs in his underwear during an interview set up by the head of Human Resources at his company. She alleged he only got dressed after she arrived. Originally hired as Combs' personal assistant, Mia told prosecutors she later became director of development and acquisitions at Revolt Films, which was co-founded by Combs. She said her working conditions were extreme and included working 24-hour shifts with little sleep and low pay — reportedly earning $50,000 per year at the time. 'Working long hours on little to no sleep became a norm,' she said. Combs' trial took a chaotic turn on Wednesday (28.05.25) after Combs' legal team, led by attorney Marc Agnifilo, called for a mistrial. The defense accused prosecutors of misconduct during questioning related to destroyed fingerprint evidence in an arson case involving musician Kid Cudi, born Scott Mescudi. Arson investigator Lance Jimenez testified DNA recovered from a Molotov cocktail used to firebomb Kid's car in 2011 had been destroyed by the Los Angeles Police Department in 2012 without his knowledge. Agnifilo argued the prosecution 'implied that someone in this courtroom was responsible for the destruction of the fingerprint cards'; Judge Arun Subramanian denied the motion for a mistrial but agreed to strike the related questions and instructed the jury to disregard the DNA evidence. Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies any wrongdoing, stating any sexual encounters he had were consensual. The trial is expected to continue for another six to seven weeks.
News.com.au
17 hours ago
- News.com.au
Sean Combs trial: Diddy ‘threatened to post sex tapes online' of Cassie at Freak-Offs with other men
Sean 'Diddy' Combs threatened Cassandra 'Cassie' Ventura that he would send her 'freak-off' videos to her parents to get them fired from their jobs, a stylist and friend of the singer testified, reports The Sun. Combs' trial descended into chaos early after his defence team demanded a mistrial, claiming prosecutorial misconduct over questioning of the destroyed evidence from Kid Cudi's car firebombing. Marc Agnifilo, Combs' lead attorney, 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 arson investigation. The defence 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' defence 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. Freak-off video threats Deonte Nash, Ventura's friend and a celebrity stylist, testified about the repeated threats Combs allegedly made against his then-girlfriend. Nash told the courtroom how during one phone conversation, Combs threatened Ventura that he would release the videos of her participating in 'freak-offs' on the internet. When asked what Ventura said about the recorded sexual encounters, Nash said she told him 'she didn't want to' have sex with the men. Combs also warned Ventura that he would send a copy to her parents' workplace to get them fired from their jobs, Nash said on the stand. Nash testified how he saw bruises on Ventura's body 'quite often.' The day began with testimony from an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, who responded to the break in at the property of rapper Kid Cudi, born Scott Mescudi, in December 2011. Victim #4 expected to testify The prosecution is expected to call forth Victim #4, who is being identified in court only by the pseudonym 'Mia'. 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. On Tuesday, Capricorn Clark, who worked for Combs on and off between 2004 and 2018, testified about her former boss' violent and arduous demands that led her to develop stress-induced alopecia. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges including racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking. He could face life in prison, if convicted. 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.
News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
Judge denies Sean ‘Diddy' Combs' bid for mistrial
The hip-hop mogul's lawyers had called for a mistrial in his federal racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking trial, alleging misconduct by prosecutors in the case. They argued that prosecutors had improperly suggested and implied through questioning that Combs was involved in the destruction of evidence tied to the investigation into rapper Scott Mescudi's (Kid Cudi's) car being firebombed. Their request was quickly denied by the judge. "There was absolutely no testimony from the witness that was prejudicial in any way, shape or form," Judge Arun Subramanian countered.
