NOTE: The following article contains disturbing details and video footage. Please read at your own discretion.
Cassie Ventura is back on the witness stand Friday to testify for a fourth day in Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ sex trafficking trial.
Defence lawyers began cross-examining the star witness on Thursday, pressing her to read aloud text messages that appeared to show her expressing desire for the drug-fuelled group sex — called freak-offs — she previously testified left her traumatized.
For the first time during the trial, there was some tension among counsel about timing. In a letter to the judge, prosecutors insisted that the defence wrap up their questioning in time to allow for prosecution follow-ups on Friday, citing concern for Ventura’s “health and safety” and the potential for a mistrial if she goes into labour with her third child.
“The inefficiency of cross-examination yesterday” the government wrote, “raises the inference that the defendant hopes to accomplish precisely that outcome.”
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Ventura is eight-and-a-half months pregnant.
Day 5
Defence lawyer Anna Estevao resumed her cross-examination with questions related to the March 2016 recording of Combs attacking Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel. In it, Combs can be seen throwing Ventura to the floor, kicking her and dragging her into a hotel hallway.
Estevao had Ventura read aloud a text message in which she complained that Combs was out of control from drugs and alcohol that day. In the message, Ventura told Combs: “I’m not a rag doll. I’m somebody’s child.”
In text messages read aloud to the jury, Combs and Ventura expressed love to one another again, just days after the attack.
Ventura told Combs in one text: “We need a different vibe from Friday.”
She also told the court that Combs was wary of her dating or giving attention to other men, even during breaks in their decade-long relationship.
The hip-hop star confiscated her phone on numerous occasions, including when he found out she was dating a football player and when she suspected her of dancing with the singer Chris Brown.
Ventura didn’t name the player and denied dancing with Brown.
What Combs is on trial for
U.S. prosecutors allege that for 20 years, behind the scenes, Combs was coercing and abusing women with help from a network of associates who helped silence victims through blackmail and violence.
Combs faces an indictment that includes descriptions of freak-offs, which are defined in the court doc as “elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded.”
Numerous witnesses have come forward to accuse Combs of terrorizing people into silence by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging them, according to prosecutors. One indictment alleges that Combs dangled someone from a balcony.
Although dozens of men and women have alleged in lawsuits that Combs abused them, this trial will highlight the claims of four women.
Combs is charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has denied all the charges against him and has rejected a plea deal, choosing to go to trial instead.
If found guilty in the New York court, he could face life in prison.
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Day 4 testimony
Day 3 testimony
Day 2 testimony
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Global News will be covering the Diddy trial in its entirety. Please check back for updates.
— With files from The Associated Press
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