The R&B singer Cassie might testify as quickly as Tuesday in Sean “Diddy” Combs intercourse trafficking trial, because the Dangerous Boy Information founder faces fees that he orchestrated a deviant empire of exploitation that compelled ladies into drugged-up intercourse events known as “freak offs.”
Testimony within the trial started Monday. Prosecutors instructed jurors that, for years, Combs used his standing as a strong government to coerce ladies into abusive sexual encounters and have become violent in the event that they refused.
Legal professionals for the three-time Grammy winner argue that, although he could possibly be violent, Combs by no means veered into intercourse trafficking and racketeering, telling jurors the sexual acts have been consensual. Combs, 55, has pleaded not responsible.
Cassie, whose authorized title is Casandra Ventura, has been on the middle of Combs’ beautiful downfall. She sued him in 2023 alleging years of abuse. A surveillance video made public final yr confirmed Combs beating her at a Los Angeles resort in 2016. CNN aired the video final yr, main Combs to apologize.
The video, which was performed for jurors, reveals Combs sporting solely a white towel, punching, kicking and dragging Cassie in a resort hallway.
Israel Florez, a former safety officer on the resort, testified Monday that he got here throughout Combs whereas responding to a name a couple of lady in misery, and located Combs sitting in a chair with “a devilish stare.” Florez stated Combs provided him a stack of cash and stated “Do not inform no one.”
Florez stated he refused the money and instructed Combs, “I don’t want your money. Just go back into your room.”
Assistant U.S. Legal professional Emily Johnson stated Combs beat Cassie typically and with little provocation and threatened to destroy her music profession by releasing movies of her partaking in sexual acts with male escorts throughout encounters he organized.
Johnson stated Combs sexually exploited and beat different ladies, together with a girl recognized solely as Jane, who Combs is accused of attacking after she confronted him in regards to the “freak offs.”
Cassie’s lawsuit in opposition to Combs was settled inside hours, nevertheless it was adopted by dozens of comparable authorized claims and touched off a prison investigation.
An lawyer for Combs, Teny Geragos, instructed the jury Combs’ accusers have been after his cash, including that jurors may assume he is a “jerk” and won’t condone his “kinky sex,” however that “he’s not charged with being a jerk.”
The Related Press doesn’t usually establish individuals who say they’re victims of sexual abuse except they arrive ahead publicly, as Cassie has completed.
Combs has been jailed in Brooklyn since his arrest in September. If convicted, he might get at the very least 15 years and as much as life in jail.
In case you or somebody you understand is experiencing home violence, contact the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.
Assets for victims of sexual assault can be found by the Nationwide Sexual Violence Assets Heart and the Nationwide Sexual Assault Phone Hotline at 800-656-4673.
